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Should I Cancel My Clear Choice Appointment?

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I have an appointment scheduled with Clear Choice Dental Implants, but I have been reading a lot of complaints by patients who’ve said they had a bad experience. Do you think I should cancel that appointment? If so, what do you recommend for my dental implant situation?

Laurie

Dear Laurie,

Dental implant in three stages

I am glad you wrote. I haven’t examined you so it would be wrong for me to tell you what to do. I can, however, give you some general guidance.

Clear Choice Dental Implants is a corporate dental clinic. That means each individual one is a bit different. In most cases, their dentists are decent. They’re usually there to gain experience and earn money until they can set up their own practice.

The problems with the Clear Choice institutes more stem for their high pressure sales tactics, along with their one size fits all treatment plan, than the quality of their work. They tend to pressure patients to agree to treatment as well as push them toward the all-on-four dental implant procedure. This procedure has its drawback, more specifically that if one part of it fails, the entire unit has to be repaired. One other big consideration is that they don’t have a lot of follow up with their patients. Once their procedure is done, you are pretty much on your own. You are better served if you are with a dentist who will be invested in your treatment outcome.

What I would suggest is that before you agree to anything, you also get a second opinion from a private dentist. I’m assuming that you are replacing all of your teeth out of necessity if you are there. In that case, you may want to look at implant supported dentures. But, if you are needing to replace fewer of them, then there are other types of dental implant options that may work for you.

This blog is brought to you by Hilton Head Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Bonnie Rothwell.
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Worried About Sedation with Clear Choice

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I’m scheduled to get dental implants with a procedure called all-on-4. When we were doing all the pre-interview stuff, they sort of freaked out when I told them that I used to be on Suboxone. Because of their reaction, I did not tell them that I was now on Methadone because I was afraid that they wouldn’t treat me. My drug habit destroyed my teeth and I am really looking forward to a new smile. However, now I’m starting to worry that I should tell them, because what if I end up dying in surgery because I didn’t tell them. Should I mention it, even if it means they won’t do the procedure?

Kevin

Dear Kevin,

Woman asleep in the dental chair from detntal sedation

I am very glad you wrote. It is important that you tell your medical providers every bit of medication you are on so that they can give you the proper dosing of sedation. Without that you put yourself in serious risk. I am a bit concerned about their reaction to the Suboxone.

The problem with Clear Choice dental implants is that they tend to be a one size fits all type of practice and they don’t really like deviating from that. In fact, I’m not surprised that they’re giving you an all-on-4. That is their go to procedure. It’s fine and useful for some patients, but most dentists would prefer the more traditional implant supported dentures because if something goes wrong with an implant you don’t have to replace the entire unit the way you do with all-on-4.

I recently heard a colleague tell me about a patient who came to him after a horrible experience with the very issue of sedation with Clear Choice. He’d told them ahead of time, his biology requires more sedation than most people need. They didn’t deviate from their typical procedure, which led to the man waking up in the middle of his surgery. Even worse, rather than increasing his sedation, they just restrained him and completed the surgery. Unsurprisingly, the implants didn’t get placed properly. I’m can’t imagine it was easy to do while you are holding down a human in agony.

I highly suggest you at least talk to a private dentist who is trained in dental implants. They are much more invested in you as a patient and will tailor the procedure, including the sedation to your needs. Because you are a special case, I would look for someone who is DOCS certified. This is the Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation. They will have additional training.

This blog is brought to you by advanced dentist in Hilton Head Dr. Bonnie Rothwell.

Why Is My Dentist Giving Me Dentures With Dental Implants?

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I have had ugly dentures for years. My neighbor has dental implants and they look fantastic. I told my dentist and he said I could get dental implants but I’d need another procedure called bone grafting. Then, we’ll do the implants. After that has time to heal, then he’ll place dentures. I thought I was trying to get away from dentures to get a pretty smile. When I told him that, he said my friend probably has dentures too because that it what you use with dental implants. Is that true? If so, how do I get pretty ones?

Lisa

Dear Lisa,

implant supported dentures

I’m glad you wrote. When you’re getting an entire set of dental implants, the standard is to anchor dentures to them. There is another option of getting an individual crown on each tooth. However, that is prohibitively expensive for most people. But, don’t worry, the dentures can be beautiful. In fact, your previous dentures could have been beautiful, too. How your smile looks depends on the cosmetic skill of the dentist not whether or not they are dentures or crowns.

If this is the same dentist who did your original dentures, then you won’t like the next ones either. In that case, I would get your implants done with someone else. You’ll want someone with post-doctoral training placing dental implants, as well as in cosmetic dentistry.

You can start by finding an expert in dental implants and then looking at their cosmetic skills. Or, you can flip it around. The best cosmetic dentists are AACD accredited. They are in the top 1-3% in world when it comes to creating beautiful smiles. As for dental implants, if you look at Dr. Rothwell’s bio, you get an idea of what type of training you’re looking for there.

Benefits of Dental Implants

You may now be wondering if it is worth the cost of getting bone grafting done and dental implants if you can just pretty dentures made. It really is. I don’t know if your dentist warned you about the serious downside of dentures when you first got them, but the biggest issue you will face is facial collapse.

When your teeth were first removed, your body recognized that and began to resorb the minerals in your jawbone in order to use them elsewhere in your body, where they will be more useful. This is an amazingly efficient system in resource allotment. However, as the minerals are moved elsewhere, your jawbone begins to shrink. Eventually, there will no longer be enough of your jawbone left to even keep your dentures in place, leaving you a denture cripple and unable to eat solid foods.

Getting dental implants signals to your body that you still have teeth and it will leave your jawbone completely intact, preventing facial collapse. Plus, even the best fitting dentures reduce your chewing capacity by 50%. Once you have your dentures anchored to your implants, you will be able to eat anything you want.

This blog is brought to you Hilton Head Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Bonnie Rothwell.

Preventing Facial Collapse When You Have to Extract All Your Teeth

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I have recently been diagnosed with a calcium deficiency. My dentist is suggesting that I extract all of my teeth at once and get dentures so that I don’t have to keep coming back a little at a time to extract them. I’ve been doing some research on dentures and I am a bit terrified now. I’m only 32 years old, but if I understand what I’ve read, I could be unable to even keep in dentures in as little time as ten years because of a condition known as facial collapse. Is this true? Is there any solution to my problem? If not, how will I eat?

Cora

Dear Cora,

An illustration is facial collapse

The results of facial collapse.

I am sorry about your calcium deficiency. However, I have some serious objections to your dentist’s solution. If I understand you correctly, you didn’t develop your calcium deficiency until adulthood. Is that correct? If so, it would have no impact on your teeth. The only way a calcium deficiency could impact your adult teeth is if it happened when they were still developing. You are well past that being an issue.

When you have a calcium deficiency in adulthood, it does cause problems, though. I would look out for cramps, nerve problems, or osteoporosis. These are all serious, so I would not ignore them.

Is it possible that your teeth are often in need of work? That question is not a statement of judgment. There are many people who take excellent care of their teeth, but who have genes that work against them. If that is the case, some dentists are more interested in saving teeth than others. Working on problem teeth takes a lot more work than simply extracting them. It could be your dentist is not that interested in saving teeth. My suggestion to you is to get a second opinion on the state of your teeth. I sincerely doubt that you need to extract them.

Preventing Facial Collapse with Dentures

Because there are other people reading thing that may need dentures, I want to make sure there is a way to avoid facial collapse. The key is to get implant supported dentures with dental implants. The implants serve as prosthetic tooth roots, which signals to your body that you still need your jawbone to keep them in place. There will be no facial collapse.

Two things to be aware of. First, dental implants are an advanced dental procedure. It really requires a dentist with post-doctoral training in placing them. Second, you will also want a dentist who is a skilled and artistic cosmetic dentist. Gone of the days when dentures look like fake teeth, but you need an excellent cosmetic dentist to make them beautiful. I would look for an AACD accredited dentist.

This blog is brought to you by Hilton Head Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Bonnie Rothwell.

Should I Extract My Last Two Upper Teeth?

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I only have two teeth left on my upper arch. They are my two front teeth. I’ve been using partial dentures for the remainder of my teeth, but it is super uncomfortable and I rarely wear them. I can eat most things without the partials with just those two front teeth. I only put them in if I’m eating something that requires grinding, like steak. I’ve been to four dentists and they’ve all said different things, but it boils down to they keep saying it is up to me. I’ve found that their advice seems to revolve around what procedure THEY offer. So, I picked a dentist in a totally different part of the country from me so I’d get impartial advice because I can’t come to your office (sorry). Here’s my question. Would I be better off extracting my last two upper teeth and getting a full denture or is this the best I can do?

Caden

Dear Caden,

Before I answer, bear in mind that I have not examined you or seen any x-rays. Because of that, specifics would be dangerous. However, I can give you some generalities that will be helpful.

Zirconia dental implants

Dental Implants

If you are looking for the absolute best solution, it would be to get dental implants and anchor the partial dentures to them. You will have secure teeth that feel like having healthy, natural teeth in your mouth. I suspect that you will need bone grafting done before this is possible. When your teeth are extracted, your body immediately begins to resorb the minerals in the jawbone in order to use them elsewhere in your body where they will be more useful. That bone structure is necessary in order to retain the dental implants. However, if you can afford it, getting dental implants to replace those teeth would be the ideal.

If you cannot afford to get those than my recommendation would be to go ahead and extract the two remaining teeth in order to get complete removable dentures on your upper arch. These are held in by suction, so the bone is not as essential as it is for your lower teeth. While your two front teeth are healthy right now, the stress that is being placed on them both, from being your main source of eating, as well as from the partials, makes me think you won’t have them long anyway.

You lower teeth would be a completely different story. As the minerals in that jawbone are lost, your jawbone shrinks. Eventually, you will not have enough bone left in your jawbone to even retain your dentures, making you a dental cripple. This is known as facial collapse in dental circles. The only thing to prevent that would be implant supported dentures.

This blog is brought to you by Hilton Head Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Bonnie Rothwell.

 

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