Implants......has anyone had any success

Good evening DLC23, lovely to hear from you, i had implants in my reconstructed lower jaw I had four implants that the dentures clipped onto but you can have single implants. Mine was done 18 months after my jaw reconstruction and was done by an excellent restorative dentist working for the N.H.S. The way i looked at it was that i had nothing to lose and a lot to gain after being left with no teeth, i was warned that they might not work because of radiotherapy in the area and also because sometimes the body can reject them as they are identified as foreign bodies. My case is a lot different due to me having a new lower jaw reconstructed which was good as it had never been zapped by radiotherapy. 

    Anyway it was a great success and i finally had some teeth/dentures making me feel a lot better in myself, unfortunately, after 18 months /two years my body did reject them and the 4 implants just became loose so they either fell out or were removed. I would say go for it as your case is not as complicated as mine and in most cases, the implants will not cause any cause for concern.

   I'm one of those people who will give anything a chance to better my life and as my consultant said he would always give them another try if I wanted. Go for them DLC XX. Wishing you all the best, take care.

                                                                                                                Chris x

Hi

Thanks for the reply. I think I will ask my consultant what he thinks, I think he does this as part of his job privately. 

Hope you’re well 

Hi DLC23

I had a partial mandilectomy, neck dissection and radiotherapy 8 years ago. This involved amongst other things removal of all the teeth from my lower right jaw.

I go to a dentist who specializes in head and neck cancers and she told me that implants were not recommended because of the radiotherapy as there was a possibility of necrosis i.e. death of the bone that remained in my jaw. Instead I had a denture made that clipped onto my front lower tooth. However not very successful as there was no gum for it to hold onto and if I tried to eat with it in it slipped. It ended up just being cosmetic which was good for the photos when my daughter got married but then I had to quietly take it out so I could eat.

I gave up on it after a while as it was rather uncomfortable and I didn’t have to keep finding quiet places to take it out when I wanted to eat. I decided that people generally don’t look you in the face that much when they talk to you and are mostly too polite to mention the ‘gappy’ look. Also when you smile it is not that obvious or I pretend it isn’t.

It might be different in your situation and implants might be an option but the specialists in the area will tell you.

Hope you find some solution to the toothless issue as it can make life a bit tricky eating but I ended up at that stage relying on the teeth on the other side of my mouth so that worked out O.K. at that time.

Lyn

Morning. To be honest, if youve already had osteoradionecrosis (sorry, it’s not great I believe), then I don’t think any Restorative Dentist would place implants in that area - so likely to re-start to ORN. Success rate in bone previously irradiated is low, so not worth the expense of implant work or your time and effort(it is surgery, albeit minor). However, if teeth have been removed as part of your treatment plan for cancer, then you should be offered some form of replacement for these teeth, unless you can eat/function fine without them. PLease make sure you ask about seeing the hospital Restorative Dentist - you may have to travel if your hospital doesn’t have one - any treatment should certainly be NHS. One of the main reasons for having these specialists in a hospital is to treat Head & Neck cancer patients. 

Good luck, makes sure you ask, but don’t expect implants and nothing happens quickly as most Restorative dentists in hospital have long waiting lists. (No personal experience, other than chemoradio, but I work in a Maxillofacial dept alongside the Restorative Dentist)

Hilary

Now worries DLC , , i strongly dislike negative views/posts as i try to encourage people throughout their treatment and recovery this is why i wrote my reply, i was promised that they would try and replace my teeth free of charge on the NHS thankfully my consultant kept his word and tried his best to help me. Please do ask your consultant as you have nothing to lose even if they fail as mine did at least you tried. Im ok thanks still plodding along and am now enjoying my life very much. Still have not had any snow yet in the Medway Towns ( Kent) Take care, stay safe.

                                                                      Chris x