Front Tooth Bone Loss and Dental Implant Replacement

These x-rays tell the story:

Her original two front teeth were in bad shape and had severe bone loss.  They were even loose!

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Both center front teeth were extracted and a bone graft was done.  The teeth were replaced with dental implants. 

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I was able to rebuild the lost bone.  She was told by her dentist that it was not possible and that she had to have a bridge!

Final Result!

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14 thoughts on “Front Tooth Bone Loss and Dental Implant Replacement”

  1. ok so i am 43 and i have no teeth no one knows this i am wearing teeth that i use krazie glue to keep them in place..please help

    Reply
      • I broke 1 front tooth @ 12yrs. Crown and root canal was done. Fast forward to age 42 my crown would no longer stay in. Dentist used 2 good teeth (one on each side as an “anchor” and ended up capping all 3 front teeth with 1 piece – 1 cap of 3 teeth….fast forward age 51yrs. Severe gum receding, cap loose for 1 year and is finally dangling & hanging on to just one side…realized just now that one of the “anchor” teeth is loose & upon wiggling tooth with finger entire upper area ABOVE TOOTH ROOT IN JAW ( area under nose ) wiggles!!! Meaning the entire upper frontal jaw under nose has deteriorated!!!!

        I’m DISTRAUGHT! I DON’T WANT to go toothless, I would kill myself. I don’t want a denture. I would kill myself.

        PLEASE HELP ME ! What can I do? Will implants work or be possible with severely decayed bone?

        Reply
  2. My front upper tooth #8, #9 cracked when I was a child. Root canals were done on them, with crowns. Later, around 15 years of age apicoectomy was done. I am now 38 with severe bone loss and infection on 8 and 9. Even #10 has a root canal but it was a dead tooth, so no crown. There is discoloration on that one.
    Due to severe bone loss around #8 and #9, my dentist recommends doing extraction of all 3 since he believes leaving #10 is no good as it could create issues in future.
    Also, it is suggested that bone graft should not be done now and the infection should be healed properly and then bone graft be done after 4-5 months.
    Please advise if that will be okay or should bone graft be done immediately? Appreciate your feedback.

    Reply
    • This is a difficult situation.

      This requires expert level care. Front teeth can be very challenging to make them look great.

      If at all possible in my hands I would place implants and or bone grafting at the same time I have extraction even in the presence of infection. I know this sounds crazy but I have done so for two decades. Anytime we can preserve the bone and gum makes for a better result than extracting and rebuilding.

      Sometimes this is not possible and you may require stage for bone grafting. This means that you might need basic grafting at the time of extraction followed by a ridge augmentation/block graft after the initial first bone graft has healed

      The website has a search bar. Please search block graft to find out more information

      😊😊😊

      Reply
  3. First, thank you for using x-rays to show her before pics lol. I’m in NY on Long Island can you recommend someone in my area who is as skillful as you? My sister was told she needs a bridge too, hopefully this will help her as well.

    Reply
  4. Hello Dr. Amin,
    I am a 71 year old female and have a front 3 unit bridge (7-8-9) that has lasted over 40 years! Upon a recent exam I was told that #9 has to be extracted – The root canals done on 8 and 9 were done in 1960 after a bicycle accident, so all in all, I’ve been pretty fortunate so far.

    I was sent to an endodontist who took a 3d scan and it was confirmed that the tooth cannot be saved. At the same time, an X-ray showed that an implant I had on #19 not quite 3 years ago has failed and has to be re-done. I went back to the periodontist who did the original failed implant as well as two uppers a couple of years earlier (doing fine). He says he can somehow keep the #7 part of bridge “for now” and do implants on the long time missing #8 and the #9 and also re-do #19 at no discount or consideration whatsoever. He only uses Zirconium implants these days as he says they are far superior.

    I have a couple of concerns that I hope you can help me with: #19 failed so soon and how can he preserve #7 that is part of the current 3 unit bridge? The doctor’s advertising says he has done over 3000 implants.

    To make things more nervewracking, in a few weeks I will be leaving the country for a month (Cambodia/Australia) and can’t imagine traveling around with a flipper (I’ve had one before and absolutely couldn’t keep it in my mouth for more than an hour, much less eat or talk with it on!). Also, my daughter is getting married at the end of August which will bring us right up to the 6 month mark for healing and placing implants, crowns etc, not leaving much room for resolving a complication. You mentioned the difficulty in implant placement of the two front teeth as well.

    Doctor, I have had such luck with my 40 year old bridge and I would really just like to go with a 4 or 6 unit bridge of the highest quality material. I might mention that #7 is also a crown so if I go with a 6 unit, it will only carving down the two canines, 6 – 11.

    One last thing: In the 40 years I’ve had my bridge, I have learned to eat/bite rather gingerly with my front teeth and probably will continue that habit whether I have implants or a bridge.

    Can you advise me? Finances are also a big concern since I am recently retired. I also do not have any decent insurance cover even if I go with a bridge, just a dental discount program. I would very much appreciate your reply.

    Reply
    • The bridge in the front may be your best option! As long as the anchors are the great a six unit canine bridge is a slam dunk.

      As for 19, there are too many unknowns as to why. As of 2016 I am not a fan of zirconia as an implant. It is an excellent abutment and tooth crown material though.

      Type in zirconia implant and peri-implantitis into my search bar for more info on failures and zirconia.

      Good luck. 🙂

      Reply
  5. I need to #8 tooth replaced with an implant. This is my second attempt to connect with you. My phone # 504-722-8608. Hope to talk to you soon.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Hi Antonio,
      Thank you for contacting me. You have messaged me through my public blog.

      My staff reached out to you today by email and phone. They also did the same the first time you contacted us in March. Please check your junk mail….it is very likely you our messages may have been inadvertently out there by your email service. We checked or sent box and verified.

      Regardless, I would love to meet you. The best thing to do is CALL the office at 818-846-3203. That is still the best way to talk. 🙂

      The office is closed on many Wednesday’s. I teach on some of those days. We will be closed Wed April 8th.

      I look forward to meeting you in person. I will take great care of you.

      Thank you,
      Dr. Amin. 🙂

      Reply
  6. I have severe bone loss on two of my front upper and two lower front teeth. dentist says its about 80% bone loss, can i have implants installed? if yes what stops the bone to decay further under the implants? What is the price of this kind of implants?

    Reply

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