·5 min read
When we say implants are not the answer
The cases we turn down, and what we suggest instead — written down so you can read it before you travel.
General information, not a treatment instruction. Recovery differs from patient to patient, and the guidance your own surgeon gives you after your operation always takes priority over anything written here. If you are worried about something, message the clinic rather than waiting.
Why this page exists
A clinic that has never turned anyone down is not a clinic with better patients. Publishing the limits in advance is the only way a patient abroad can judge whether a plan they were sent is honest, because they cannot walk in and ask.
Situations where we do not place implants
- Uncontrolled diabetes. High blood glucose impairs the bone healing the implant depends on. Controlled diabetes is not a barrier — uncontrolled is.
- Active periodontal disease. Placing titanium into infected tissue puts the implant into the same environment that destroyed the natural teeth.
- Current heavy smoking. Failure rates are markedly higher. We will plan treatment with a patient who stops, and we will say so plainly rather than take the fee and hope.
- Intravenous bisphosphonates or recent head and neck radiotherapy. The risk of jaw necrosis changes the calculation entirely.
- Jaws still growing. In adolescents an implant stays where it is placed while the jaw continues to develop around it.
Situations where the answer is 'not yet'
Insufficient bone volume is not a refusal — it is a sequence. A graft or a sinus lift first, then the implant once the site can hold it. Zygomatic implants exist precisely for the severe cases where conventional grafting is not enough, which is why we list them separately.
Untreated decay or gum inflammation elsewhere in the mouth is treated before surgery, not alongside it.
What we suggest instead
Depending on the case: a conventional bridge, a partial denture, a crown on a tooth that can still be saved, or simply keeping what you have under review. A tooth that can be restored should be restored. Replacing a savable tooth with an implant is a downgrade sold as an upgrade.
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