Canine tooth

Kim_kim

My huge white filling has failed in my canine tooth.  It turned into an abscess for which I got antibiotics.
I’ve taken the antibiotics & gone back to see the dentist.  The white filing has fallen out & some more of the tooth.  The dentist says a cap isn’t possible now as too much of the tooth has fallen out.  

My options are an implant or a bridge, he says if I have a bridge the tooth it’s attached to has a 20% chance of failing.
I'm 54, will an implant last me the rest of my life?
anything else to consider? 
I'm having what remains of the tooth out next Friday.  

brook2jack2

No dental work will last forever. It will all need maintainance and replacement over the years. A replacement is never as strong as the original tooth. 

How long any dental work will last depends on whether you are willing to make the lifestyle changes necessary to give it the best chance. 

Just as you have had a lot of decay in the tooth which meant you needed a large filling then you can get decay underneath a bridge causing that to fail quickly and as your dentist said any tooth prepared for a bridge has a 20% chance of dying off. 

Implant success rates are much lower in people who smoke, have diabetes , have gum disease or grind their teeth . They need meticulous cleaning in and around the implant and you need to budget for maintainance. 

Kim_kim

brook2jack2 said:

No dental work will last forever. It will all need maintainance and replacement over the years. A replacement is never as strong as the original tooth. 

How long any dental work will last depends on whether you are willing to make the lifestyle changes necessary to give it the best chance. 

Just as you have had a lot of decay in the tooth which meant you needed a large filling then you can get decay underneath a bridge causing that to fail quickly and as your dentist said any tooth prepared for a bridge has a 20% chance of dying off. 

Implant success rates are much lower in people who smoke, have diabetes , have gum disease or grind their teeth . They need meticulous cleaning in and around the implant and you need to budget for maintainance. 

I don’t smoke, have diabetes, gum disease or grind my teeth. 

A bit of it broke off a while ago, hence the large filling, which quickly failed.  

MattMattMattUK

Personally I would go with the implant, the current ones are expected to last 20-30 years and whilst the fake tooth might need replacing, the most expensive part is the implant post and that is expected to last more than twice that. There are issues with suitability and not everyone is suitable, people with severe osteoporosis might also have issues later in life, but personally I would go for the implant. If cost is an issue most dentists offer interest free payment plans. 

brook2jack2

Actually , the expected lifespan of the implant post if placed in optimum conditions is around 25 years and the superstructure much less than that , but the commonest cause of failure is perimplantitis that is gum disease around the implant which can cause it to fail very quickly indeed. 

Your own tooth is the strongest thing to have in your mouth,anything else is second best and will last a much shorter time. Again if what caused someone to lose the tooth in the first place is not addressed then the implant will not last. 

Osteoporosis is actually not the problem with implants but some of the drugs used to treat it eg bisphosphonates May very well mean a dental implant should not be placed as bisphosphonates affect the way the jaw bone heals after surgery.