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Central Minnesota | I've had some bad teeth since second grade. Had a tumor removed in my gums, and have had a very hard time keeping my teeth healthy since then. Shortly after high school I had numerous root canals and cavities filled. Everything was good for roughly 20 years, but the past couple years they have been getting worse, so the dentist started recommending implants.
Last may I had 4 molars pulled. Left side of my mouth. 2 on top, and 2 on the bottom. The same time they pulled them, they did the bone grafting because they need a good bone structure in your jaw for the implants. When they pulled them, he immediately shoved bone in, covered the bone with a membrane, and then stitched it up. Stitches stayed in for 2-3 weeks. Then in September I went in for a sedation procedure. 3 hours later I woke up with 2 implants in the bottom, and 2 on the top, along with a sinus lift. He had to do the sinus lift because one decayed so bad that a lot of the bone was gone and the sinus "balloon" was drooping down into where the tooth decayed. And that's an area that would hold infection. Anyways, he stitched up the area where the implants were, and 2 weeks later I went back and they removed the stitches. Then in December I went back and he made a small cut where each implant is and attached a healing cap to each implant. That's to help form the gum tissue. Then January 4 I went in for impressions, and the last week of January my teeth were installed. Each time something major was done it's a 3 month wait. Just to allow the bone to heal.
Most of the stuff was done while I was sedated. I gag something terrible, and that's about the only way they can do anything on me without gagging. So it wasn't as easy of a process. And when they did the sinus lift, that one took about a week before I felt normal again. Balance was messed up, memory was fuzzy, you name it.
The messed up parts are. Knowing he was drilling and tapping threads into that bone. And also hearing the torque wrench click when he was installing the teeth.
Local dentist does the sedation dentistry and implants, so luckily I wasn't going to a big city for it. | |
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Dental implants
