I knew I wanted implants for my dentures and I decided to get 6 regular implants. After listening to my dentist over and over again talk about All on 4, I gave in. I got All on 4 in Feb. 2015 and 2 weeks ago when I was eating I heard an felt one of the implants snap. Now I am told that the implant will need to be replaced. The old one will have be taken off and I can’t get a new one right away. We have to wait until the area heals and there is a possibility that I will need bone grating and maybe one of the other implants will need to be redone too. I am disgusted and this whole thing is ridiculous. I dropped a lot of cash on these implants and you would think that somebody would ensure the implants are in mint condition. The prosthodontist I have is too casual about the whole thing too. It’s just kind of a ‘we’ll fix it’ attitude without any explanation. I want to know what happened. Why would an implant snap? Thanks Romia
Romia – We are sorry to hear about the difficulty with one of your All-On-Four implants. There are several reasons that an implant may snap.
One cause is the skill of the prosthodontist. The implants must be perfectly aligned and accurately placed to evenly distribute pressure on the implants. The slightest inaccuracy can exert pressure on an implant and cause it to snap.
A second possibility is the quality of the implant. Low-quality implants are a fraction of the cost of FDA-approved implants, but they are also a fraction of the quality. The effort to save money can be costly and compromise oral health.
You can ask your prosthodontist why he thinks the implant snapped, as well as what is being done this time to prevent the problem from recurring. It may be wise to consider getting a second opinion from an experienced prosthodontist. After an examination and a digital x-ray, he or she will let you know why the problem occurred and how it should be treated.
This post is sponsored by Naperville board-certified prosthodontist Dr. Anthony LaVacca.
