Here's another "tooth" experience from Suzanne.  No pictures so I'm just going to pop in some of my favorites!

"Three months ago, I broke a tooth on the top right side of my mouth. I tried to ignore it, thinking I could manage but it became very problematic and began to ache terribly. Finally, I went to the dentist to get it fixed but he said there was nothing he could do so had to pull it out and that was when the adventure began!

Apparently, you can't leave a a gap where a tooth once was because the teeth either side deteriorate as they have no support and so I was told it would be best to either get a bridge or an implant. This was getting serious.

    I really like my dentist and trusted his judgement. The more he looked at my tooth line and my dental history, his suggestion was to go with the implant. I was ok with that and so off I went to the periodontist for a consult. The consult should have been relatively simple but when he assessed the situation, he found that I did not have enough bone left in my gum for an implant to hold and definitely not enough stability for a bridge. The only way around it was to do a bone graft.

Kind cadaver

    So, last Tuesday, I had a piece of bone (thank you, some kind cadaver) grafted into my mouth which is being held in place by 8 stitches. While I wait for that to fuse with what is left in my gumline, I am taking large amounts of calcium supplements and eating soft food. In 2 weeks I have the stitches out and then they leave me alone for 4 months while it all heals and then they fit the implant.

    I am amazed at modern medicine and what they are now able to do but at the end of it all, I think I shall not want yogurt or scrambled eggs or soggy cereal or stewed fruit for a very long time!

    I know that no one wants to see a before and after photo of this event and I don't blame you so just use your imagination and know that it seems to be healing nicely. The end result will be me with a decent smile and a dental implant that will set off airport security beepers because the implant post is made of titanium steel! Luckily I don't plan on flying too much."