Dental Implants for Hockey Players

So, I’m a hockey player. Until recently, I’d been pretty lucky. A few nights ago, I took a direct hit and lost one of my front teeth. I wanted to get a dental implant but a teammate recently said that I shouldn’t because it could do some serious damage if things went wrong. Now I am not sure what to do. Is there an ideal tooth replacement for someone in my position?

Franklin

Dear Franklin,

I’m glad you wrote. My recommendation is you do go ahead and have the dental implant surgery. However, do not anchor the implant crown to it. The implant will do two things. First, it will hold open the spot so that your teeth won’t shift. While a temporary tooth replacement can do the same thing, the implant has a second benefit. It will also preserve the bone in that area.  If you were to get a temporary replacement, than that bone would start to disappear as your body resorbs the minerals in your bone. By placing the implant there, it signals to your body that you need that bone and leaves the minerals intact.

While you are playing hockey, you can put a temporary tooth replacement on top of the implant instead of attach a crown to it. This way, you look like you have a tooth, but if you get hit in the mouth again, the temp replacement will just come out without doing damage to your jaw. If you had something anchored to the implant, then if the hit to your mouth was strong enough, it would rip the implant right out of your jaw, doing serious damage.

I hope this helps you with your decision. Best of luck with the hockey career. One other suggestion. Make sure whoever does your temp replacement is a skilled cosmetic dentist. Just because it is a temporary tooth doesn’t mean it can’t blend in with the remainder of your teeth and look natural.

This blog is brought to you by Nashville Cosmetic Dentist Dr. David Wickness.