Postby Grant » Sat Sep 01, 2012 12:15 pm
TAM,
Pretty much. The first go developed a cyst and we lost it at cementation of the first crown. The surgeon went in the second time at an angle in order to grab bone behind the original site. This left less than the usual width to restore with a second crown. What I ended up making was a third bicuspid, rather than a molar. The positioning is a bit weird because of bone loss at the implant/socket, but it balances my bite and gives me full first molar occlusion. Its solid as a rock and I am only aware of it if I am biting very hard on something that is itself very hard. I very much recommend implants over bridges or removable partial dentures. But it took over two years to complete mine and would have cost anyone else about $5K to complete.
I should mention that teeth and implants are in no way the same. Teeth "float" in tissue inside the bone of the jaw. Bone actually grows into the structure of an implant and becomes integral with it. It does not float, with the consequence that you do not have the same kind of proprioception you have with your natural teeth. For one thing, you do not have a good sense of the pressure you are putting on an implant, but I don't notice that it makes a lot of difference.
I am blown away by the glue they used in the video to attach the fixture to the bird's beak. The flexural pressure on both the fixture and the interface with the beak has to be enormous. My experience has been that exterior prosthetic pieces on humans have been secured either with existing anatomical undercuts or with attachments to implants in bone similar to what I have in my mouth. Other that for toupees that just sit there,this direct glue business is new to me. Besides the issue of the glue, this case is the equivalent of putting an entire human arch on one root of a single tooth. And I am still left wondering how her hygienist is going to deal with that thing. They must plan on the beak coming off.