I went to get a dental implant and my dentist said I was a good candidate. Yet, after the surgery, he told me there was not enough bone structure. He placed the dental implant anyway knowing it would fail. He said after it does we can try again or if I don’t want that I can get a dental bridge. I’m really frustrated with this, especially since he billed me anyway. Is this common practice?
Drew
Dear Drew,
No, this is not common practice. Not only that, I have no idea how your dentist thinks he can get away with this. First, if he had done adequate diagnostics he would have known you did not have enough bone structure to support a dental implant. So, that is mistake number one. Next, he placed the dental implant knowing completely well that it would fail.
The basic standard of care is a belief that the procedure would succeed. He placed it knowing it would not. The first thing I would do is ask for a full refund. If he tries to give you a hard time about that, then I suggest you tell him that you would rather handle this privately but that you do understand the strength of your position and are willing to go to an attorney and the dental board if necessary. That should sober him up.
As for getting a dental implant. It is still possible for you to get one if you want. However, I would not recommend doing so through this dentist. You need to find a dentist with post-doctoral training in placing implants. In addition, because you do not have enough bone to sustain an implant at the moment, you will need to have a bone grafting procedure done to build the bone structure back up. I would not wait for your dental implant to fall out. Not only is this stressful for you, but it will be much easier to remove the implant sooner rather than later.
This blog is brought to you by Lexington, KY Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Fred Arnold.