Implants Came Out in Two Days

I need some advice. I had six dental implants placed. I’ve already paid 2/3 of the bill and 3 of them have fallen out just two days later. Should I have to continue paying for these with half of them already gone? Should I be worried about the other half? Is there a way to still get dental implants or will I be stuck with dentures?

Emily

Dear Emily,

While dental implant failure does happen. The failure rate for dentists who know what there doing is somewhere between 2% – 5%, even then it wouldn’t happen in days, but years. Your dentist has a 50% failure rate in just two days. No, you should not have to keep paying. In fact, I would say you are entitled to a full refund, plus enough to have this repaired correctly. I have little confidence the remaining three dental implants will fair any better.

One thing I would like you to do is having an experienced implant dentist look at these. Look for someone who has qualification such as you find on Dr. Weiss’s bio, especially the Dawson Academy and his involvement with the Academies of Osseointegration (a word we’ll get to in just a moment).  They should be able to tell you why it failed and help you secure the refund you are entitled to.

Common Reasons for Dental Implant Failure:

• Development of infection: The cause of this is often poorly fitting dental implant fixtures. I do not think this is you, because an infection is usually accompanied by fever and / or pain.
• Diagnostic shortcuts: Before doing any dental implant procedure a dentist should do extensive tests to determine whether you have enough bone to adequately support the implants. This should include a CT scan, though some dentists do try to skimp on the diagnostics. This hurts the patient. So you know, not having enough bone support does not disqualify you from getting the implants. There is a bone grafting procedure that can be done prior to the implant procedure to build up the support you need to have secure fixtures.
• The use of substandard implant fixtures: This is when dentists try to increase their profits by purchasing their implant fixtures overseas. These are significantly less expensive than they ones you purchase in the U.S., but for good reason. They do not go through the same quality control and are much more prone to fail.
• Incorrect placement of the implant: Placing dental implants correctly takes a lot of training as well as the correct x-rays and scans. In some cases this happens because your oral surgeon determined the placement instead of the dentist. Even if the dentist has to refer you out for the surgical procedure, it should always be the dentist that determines the placement. In other cases, the dental implants don’t fail, but are still placed incorrectly and either perforate the sinus cavity or end up on a nerve.
• Premature loading: This means putting stress on the implant before it has fully fused with the bone. That is the osseointegration I mentioned earlier. If your dentist had just placed the dentures on them and then they fell two days later, this would be one of the first things I would look into.

Once you know why the implants failed, you can get your refund, then get this done properly.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.
An AACD accredited dentist.