Dental work

Hello everyone!

I would like to ask for your advice,

1. I have to get some dental work done in the back of my mouth. I had to extract a tooth in the past and now I need to have either an implant (just one tooth) or a bridge (I have to sacrifice one or two more teeth for that). I've read that steroids might seriously impact the quality of the implant and someone on steroids might lose it, so it is recommended to go with the bridge. However, my dentist told me that I should be fine with an implant... I'm very confused. And is it really safe to go for an implant? It is a surgery... Is it worth it? Currently I'm not taking any steroids (rituxan maintenance). But I'm aware that at times we have to increase steroids when needed. I also, already, developed osteopenia in my lower back and the right hip from the steroid use during my first 2 years of weg treatment.

2. While the back teeth maybe a bit easier to sacrifice for the bridge, I also have a bridge in the front, sometime in the future I will need to change it, should I go with another bridge or have implants instead?!

Do any of you have any experience with this simple, yet not so simple issue?! Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Hi Ailish, I had my entire mouth worked on last year. Aside from the laborious & tedious jobs of extraction, and refining the fit, all went well. My greatest fear was infection & the dentists knew that & were also well informed of the WG & its effects. There was no guessing as they both looked up WG before they went to work on me! I went for the bridges just cuz of the possibilities of infection with implants/surgery. Aside from bridges being a pain (keeping clean & fitted), I believe I made the better choice. Dentists agreed as they didn't want to risk infection. Most of my WG damage is in my sinuses. I was still on low dose pred at the time, now I'm off completely. Anyway, biggest threat with implants is causing infection which I'm sure they would protect against. As for the upper teeth, there is the chance of breaking thru to the sinus cavity whilst putting in the implants (a friend had it happen, lots of infection & pain) as the screw could & has broken thru. Basically implants look more natural and function more like normal teeth, but installation aside from can be risky at times. Basically, after all the pred helping destroy my teeth, I'm just glad to be able to chew properly again! Best to you.

Very informative! Thank you! Congrats on your successful dental adventure and being off of prednisone!!!:thumbsup: I have to begin the process very soon as my back tooth is tilting, so I'm 99% sure I'm going to go with a bridge. For the front teeth (I hope the bridge lasts another 5 years before the need of replacement) situation is a bit trickier, if the teeth that are holding my bridge now can still hold another one, I'll do the bridge, if not, then I'll have to look for a very handy dentist...