As we get older, the inevitable happens…we start to loose teeth.  I have tried to hold on to mine as long as I can, but there are a couple of my teeth that I know won’t last for long.  Dental implants can be the answer for many people.  A bridge requires the dentist to basically ruin the teeth on either side of the missng tooth, grinding them down so that they can also be crowned and serve as anchor teeth for the tooth that bridges the gap of the missing tooth.  They work well, but they are not going to last forever, and now instead of one tooth missing, you have the possibility of eventually loosing the other two as well.  The problem with a partial is that you have a piece of plastic and metal in your mouth all the time that you can constantly feel.  A dental implant looks and feels like the original tooth, and it is there permanently.

Let us explain a little bit about the procedure. It is not something that can de done in a day, because it takes months for the implant to heal and for the surrounding bone to grow and attach itself.

1. The doctor has to do an oral examination, complete with x-rays to make sure you are a good candidate. You have to have good bone density and the jaw bone has to be in good shape.  Some people will have to start with a bone graft in order to build up the surrounding bone.  If you are needing to first have an extraction, especially if it is a molar tooth, you will probably have to have a bone graft, in which they surgecly implant an artificial calcium material that the bone adheres to and grows around. The procedure takes  about 1 hours per tooth, and will take about 45 days for the healing process to be done, and to be ready for an implant.  If you have lost the tooth a long time ago, and the jaw  bone is in good shape, you won’t need to have this step done.  In Mexico, a bone graft costs $350 per tooth, still much less than the $1200 it costs in Ciudad Juarez.

2.  After pre-drilling a hole into the jawbone, the implant, made of  titanium, is screwed in. It is coated with hydroxylapatite, which is the main mineral of which dental enamel is comprised. This helps the bone to grow around and bond to the dental implant more thoroughly. The dentist opens up the gum, and using a special machine, he removes the bone in the jaw to prepare it to receive the implant.  After insertion of the implant, the gum is sutured closed with dissoluble sutures. The procedure only takes about 1 hour, but you will then have wait for 3 to 4 months for the bone to heal and grow to the implant.  Some people have heard about mini-implants that the dentist will attach a crown to the same day, but this procedure in not highly recommended. The fact is, if you are using the implant before the bone can heal and adhere to the implant, it will work loose.  Mini implants do not have a very long life expectancy, and may need to be replaced in a couple of years.  It is best to do the slower procedure, and  have an implant that will last for the rest of your life.

3&4. When you come in to attach the abutment and crown, it will take 2 visits to the clinic, but they can be back to back. First, the dentist will drill into the titanium implant to attach the abutment.  He will then make an impression of this post and the surrounding teeth, and send the impressions out to the lab. It normally takes a couple of days for the finished crown to be ready, but if arrangements are made with the lab, the crown can be ready to put on the very next day, and in some cases the same day.
Is it safe to have this done in Mexico? Although this is not a procedure that can be done by just any dentist, and requires a lot of specialty training in the techniques and procedures, there are many  Mexican dentists that have been very well trained to do dental implants.  They get a lot of practice at it because this has become a procedure that has become common in Mexico because of the many thousands of Americans who have go over to have it done.

We have a specialist that comes in to do implants. Dr Moran has xxxx years of experience with several specializations in implants, root canals, and oral surgery.  He is reputed to be one of the best in his field.  Many people are very happy with the result.  If you are interested in a good dentist in Mexico contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it