Should My GP Place Implants?
Posted in Implant Practice Management Patient Questions on Dental Implants
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Subscribe to this PostAnn, a patient, asks us:
I am 48 years old. Last year, my general dentist extracted my top back
molar due to “too little tooth structure left to the crown”. He told
me that he hoped my wisdom tooth would move in to fill void. So far, it hasn’t.
Last month, I bit down on a popcorn kernel, fracturing an upper bicuspid. The dentist removed the back portion, and agreed to leave the front until I could arrange for a dental implant. So it looks as if I need dental implants for both teeth.
My general dentist wants to place the dental implants, and says that he has done a couple hundred of them. I’m feeling that I should go to someone who does this procedure even more often, such as an oral surgeon. Am I right to think that a general dentist isn’t apt to handle this as well as an oral surgeon? What is the preferred way to proceed with dental implant treatment? Thanks.
Successful implant placement and restoration are guided by good treatment planning just like any other dental procedure. As a GP I am comfortable with single tooth implants that do not require ridge augmentation or sinus involment.
The Cases that I would refer and to who…
Multiple maxillary anterior implants of three or more = Perio. (for esthetic concerns.)
Multiple posterior implants in Maxilla or mandible = Pros. (For occlusal concerns)
Full Arch Implant Reconstructions = OS and Pros
Dr.mstrong: It is ok to stay within your zone of comfort. After a while you may desire to expand said zone of comfort and perform more complex treatment as your training/learning and experience grows. We all start as beginners. Even the so called specialist start as beginners.
Great question Ann. I am a board certified Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, which means that I had 6 extra years of hospital based surgical education after I finished dental school. The state laws allow general dentists to do anything within the dental practice act. It’s similar to allowing General Practitioner (MD’s) to remove tonsils and deliver babies. Just because the law allows them to do these procedures doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. These self-proclaimed “experts” may have received their “training” at a weekend course in Palm Springs. Go with your gut feeling. Make sure a surgical specialist does your surgery. Avoid the “Jack of all trades” dentists….because we all know they are master’s of none.