O.T. surgery is done, hopefully

Last year a ratchet hit me in the face busting my upper plate, chipping the cheek bone by my eye and giving a real nice black eye. Super glue fixed the plate. Several months later after workmans comp. paper war I went to a dentist. He said there was too much skin on the lower gum to make a good impression and it would have to be trimmed. Upper would be no problem. (had dentures for 24 years). Went to a surgeon who wanted to do implants. He then found out work comp. would only cover the upper plate, he then wanted to trim the skin only. Even though I told him I could pay. I thanked him and left. Went to 3 others. Didn"t impress me. Finally found one I liked right off. Took the time to sit down and talk ALL aspects.
I had 3 choices. 1)Trim the skin and make the plate. 2)Trim the skin and later reopen and put in locator pegs. 3)Trim the skin and later reopen and put in 4 implant pegs for a bridge bar. With option 1&2 the plate would rest on the gum and the bone would continue to recede. Option 3 would transfer the bite force through the gum to the bone and give the bones something to do and keep it from later receding. I just had the implants put in last tue. for option 3. All has gone great so far.
3or 4 months from now I go back for the bridge bar and new plates. Hope I did the right thing.
Anyone else been through this or similar? Thanks

Wow! It sounds like having that ratchet hit you was like a grenade going off. If you found a good surgeon, like you said, you should be fine. Dave

If you"re in KY., I"d like to know who your oral surgeon is!

I"ve had an upper plate for a year and hate the thing. You probably only know all too well that regardless how well it fits...it"s never totally comfortable or like "real teeth".

I was told those implant posts would be $1500 EACH and it would require 6 for the upper plate. That ended my further interest...I simply cannot afford that.

Going for the whole enchilada..upper and lower. 7 implants up and 6 down and permanent denture over lay on top and bottom...no pink flanges...pricey and I hope I'm doing the right thing.

135fan; yeah, it is kind of like a bomb going off in your face as you wait for the stars to clear, try to acess with your tongue and fingers just what you"re going to find when you get to the bathroom mirror.
For Bo; they told me I didn"t have enough bone left on the lower jaw for the procedure you"re having and that I didn"t need it on the upper. But I think you"re going for the best procedure. All I can say is OUCH and I will pray for your speedy recovery.
For Mark; I live in the No. Ky. area and mine was a Stephen Schueler, 859.578.9000 The implants were about 15-1800$ each. For the skin removal (500.$) I used the money I had saved for the tractor shows. For the 2nd cutting and implants I sold my solis scanner and my smoke machine to pay for most of it, (7000.00) For the remainder they offered a 18mos. no int. Care Credit account. For the bridge work and lower plate, well I"m sure I can find something else to sell. Like you I can"t afford this, but I"ve been dreaming of and wanting this for years and now it"s time to rock and roll. I guess it all comes down to what I can find to sacrafice for my dreams. All the best to you. Thank you all for your replies and thoughts.

One more thing for Mark, my oral surgeon will only be doing the metal bridge work and not the denture fitting. However he did offer to find me a dentist whom he felt would know what he was doing with the denture work. His statement" if you're going to all this expence and pain, let me talk to them and see if they really know or if the're just talking B.S." From my standpoint, when someone starts talking mechanical it doesn't take me long to know if they've BTDT. Just seems like a pretty straight up guy. ( He's been at it since 1977)

carman870,

I"m near Ashland and would be willing to drive elsewhere in the state to find a good man/woman that knows what they are doing and it sounds as if your surgeon, does.

Strange as it may sound.....I like being able to take my upper plate out and I"d hate to think that I couldn"t because of those posts sticking in my gums. I do not know if it is possible to have individual teeth implanted....just like "real" teeth or not. I can only imagine if possible, much gum grafting would be required. Movie stars and millionaires can afford that work....but retired railroaders like me.....cannot. I wish you the best and a Merry Christmas.

Mark, as I was told I will be able to take the lower plate out when I want. It is my understanding that there will be a wire (as it were) from post to post on the right lower gum along the old tooth line around the front to the left side about 1/2 way back on each side. The lower plate will look like normal except there will be 4 plastic clips underneath in a groove that will snap onto the bridge wire. If the clips get loose after awhile then I can go back and have new clips put in and that will tighten it back up. This is all new to me but I guess I'll find out in 3 months or so. I'll keep you posted.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year