Dental Implants or plate?

[Kevin L]

Hello

I have several loose top teeth that my dentist has recommended need to be removed due to severe gum disease. He recommends that I have a plate after these teeth are removed and live with a plate for a while.

I hate the thought of having to wear a denture that covers my palate and moves up and down and would like to have a more stable alternative to the dental plate option.

My dentist says that due to my gum disease I cant have dental implants at the moment. I just would like to know if there anyway to avoid having a plate and have dental implants instead?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

Your dentist is right in stating that implants cant be provided for people with active gum disease. The reason is that gum disease bacteria could affect the bone around the implants and this will lead to bone loss and problems for the implants.

So unfortunately for a while you will have to wear a denture as you are waiting for your gum disease to be treated. Sometimes a temporary bridge could be made but in a case where there are several teeth that need to be removed and the rest of the teeth have gum disease, this is probably not possible.