• ChocoboRocket@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Honestly, unless this tooth repair gel thing works and becomes available soon, I’d rather have some of my teeth replaced with implants.

    I’ve asked my dentist “can we just skip the endless filling replacements, caps, crowns, and eventual implants and just go right to implants?”

    They always say no, and I ask is there a reason why “natural teeth” with fillings/caps/crowns are better than implants - they reply with “But it’s your teeth! They’ll last a long time before needing implants!”

    Yeah, so I’ll need implants eventually, can’t I just get them now before I put more fillings, caps, crowns, and eventual implants? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

    “but your natural teeth will last a long time!”

    Yeah, but they ain’t so natural after 5 procedures, and I’d rather avoid the ha$$le and just get the implants now instead of implants and a lifetime of repairs.

    They always say no, and it’s probably because they make way more money fixing bad teeth than replacing it with something permanent

    EDIT

    Thank you everyone!

    I’ve gotten better answers here than from my dentist, so thank you everyone for educating me on the reasons why.

      • ChocoboRocket@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        I was under the impression swapping out an implant was far easier than installing the system.

        And I’m also talking about teeth that have been repeatedly drilled, capped, crowns etc - not a normal, healthy tooth.

        These teeth are basically anchors for crowns, at what point is a new implant better than a chiseled out tooth?

        • apocalypticat@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Implants can fail at the implant/bone interface. You have limited amounts of bone in the jaw.

          I’m not a dentist or surgeon, but I have an education in biomedical engineering. With knee and hip implants, for example, a major consideration is the health and longevity of the underlying bone.