I’m stuck. I need a dental implant for a tooth that I was born missing and have been researching it a lot because I don’t want it to not work or to look bad after I spend all the money on it. My problem is that half of the websites I’ve seen say that I need to make sure to find a dentist who is very experienced because they are the ones who instruct the lab in how the tooth should be made. The other half say that it’s all about the quality of dental lab that a dentist uses, that even the best dentist’s work could turn out terrible because of a half-rate lab. I am hoping you will help me know which one to focus on finding.
Thanks in advance,
Jerry
Jerry,
That is a tricky question, especially when the opinions you can find on the internet come from multiple sources, including dentists trying to earn your business, and former patients who are either happy or unhappy with their implant and blame or give credit depending on their case.
But the simple answer is to find both a good dentist who uses a quality lab. Here’s why.
Getting a dental implant is surgery. For the implant to be successful, the bone has to integrate with the implant. To assure successful healing, dentists have to be diligent in their selection of candidates for an implant to assure their general health is good and oral health is optimal. Because they are the ones helping to create the look you want with that tooth, they have to be a good listener and knowledgeable in determining the correct size, shape and color for the tooth. They then have to be skilled enough to perform the procedure with precision.
Dental labs play a big part as well. The lab creates the restoration according to the specifications of the dentist. Labs with good master ceramists can create a tooth that will look good, will be of a good workmanship so it will last longer, and can affect how the implant heals.
So it really takes both because in the hands of an unskilled dentist, a well-made implant could fail. And vice versa, if an implant is made by a second-rate ceramist, even if it is placed by a recommended dentist, it could fail. To have the greatest chance of success it takes an expert dentist and an expert dental lab.
