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Originally Posted by Mlogan22@tampabay.rr.com
I just lost my 5th tooth today and not a penny from the tooth fairy. I had chemo for stage 4 non Hodgkins lymphoma four years ago. Grateful to be alive, but chemo did havoc on my body. My question is who is a good dentist and or periodontist that does implants? I just moved here from Tampa last month and that is too far to keep going back and forth. I currently have 2 implants in the making and now I need another one. I considered dentures, but have heard that the eventual bone loss where the teeth are will make my jaw shrink. With the cost of implants I'm going to have to come out of retirement. HELP!!!
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Hi. Sorry for the situation you have found yourself in. I had stage 3 c, having chemo 5 days a weel 6-7 hours a day (in two chest ports) for 3 weeks on one off. This went on for three months. Like you, my teeth started to fall out due to bone loss, dry mouth, etc etc.. I was going to the dentist weekly to try and save the teeth. I wasn't even 40. My dentist and Oncologist finally discussed it and told me to save my money and concentrate on beating the c. By the time I was 55 I was in bad shape. The price of individual implants was astronomical. I ended up getting 10 implants to which I had all of the teeth attached. Six implants up top, four on the bottom. The implants are large and the teeth can be screwed in or change the insert(?) and you can snap them. If you go the implant route you could expect to have cadaver bone packed around the implants to strengthen the implant. The entire process took 8 months (25K to 30K). You can do same day where they knock you out and when you wake up you have teeth. That was quoted to me at 2x the 25-30K. Good Luck and all the best.