Dental Implants

[SLEepyhead123]

I have systemic lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and an under active thyroid. Over the past 6 years my teeth have been crumbling away. I've had lots of fillings which then moved onto having a bridge of 4 teeth top front and a couple of crowns. I've also had several dental abscesses. I have a dry mouth but not diagnosed with Sjögren's so far. All very expensive and now my dentist says the teeth filed down to stumps to glue the bridge onto are crumbling too. The dentist has now recommended that I have 5 implants done. My main concern apart from the horrendous expense is firstly having lupus are the implants likely to actually work, will my jaw bone accept and regrow around the base of them. The last filling I had was very large and went below the gum line and my jaw was swollen for 4 weeks. I just don't know who to get advice from. If anyone has had dental implants or who can point me to the correct people to get advice I'd be very grateful. I shall ask my rheumatologist in September but he always seems more interested in my RA than the Lupus side of things. PS. I live in Spain .

[SjogiBear]

I was intrigued about your question so did a quick search online to see if dental implants are contraindicated with Sjogrens at least (which is associated with dental issues). It would seem that they may well be a good course of action for you if you want to have them done - there certainly doesn't seem to be any literature out there saying NOT to have them done. Here are a couple of things the google search brought up:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/263...

bssa.uk.net/live/documents/...

There is also a previous thread on here from two years ago if you haven't seen it already that will give you many thoughts from others on this topic:

healthunlocked.com/lupusuk/...

HTH x

[maur60]

Sleepyhead I don't have lupus but I do have systemic scleroderma and Sjögren's. My teeth just loosened and had to be removed, it was just so depressing. I have had 4 dental implants which cost £10,000. I haven't had any problems with them. Worth every penny, I feel much better in myself and more confident talking to people.