Monday afternoon my daughter was playing Center, like usual, while warming up for a game and unfortunately was hit in the mouth with a pop fly. After all was said and done, she has lost 4 or 5 (I was in shock and can't remember exactly what the doctor told me) of her front teeth. She will need a bone graft in a couple of months to prepare her for implants.

So my question is, have any of you had any experience with dental implants? How was the process? Upkeep?



**I would like to also say that she usually wears a fielders mask and for some reason didn't pick it up that day and according the coaches it was a ball she would normally catch.

Oh my goodness Cheekee!! That is terrible! I'm in shock just reading about it. How awful.

I don't have much to say about implants -- my father in law had them for decades and never had a problem -- but I just have to tell you how badly I feel for her! My gosh. I'm glad she didn't get hit higher in her head, or she may have lost an eye or had a terrible head injury! Knocked out teeth is bad enough.... So sorry to hear it.

Oh Cheekee - my husband had the same thing happen playing college ball - during a game. He does have dental implants and there is no maintenance. I know the process was a bit painful (this was about 12 years ago). They had to use a large drill into his bone to 'set' the base of the implants. That had to heal before actually receive the 'teeth'.

Oh my goodness! Sorry no experience with this, but I just want to express how sorry I am that this happened to your daughter and your family too. I hope all goes well.

Prayers for your daughter CheekEE; really sorry that happened to her.

family member had 1 done, amount of swelling and pain was about equal to having wisdom teeth out is what they reported. no upkeep moving forward, other than standard dental hygiene.

CheekEE - how's your daughter doing?

CheekEE may be a little busy today after being off work last week taking care of her, but she is doing good. Her appointment went well Friday. She was able to eat some "Real" food this past weekend and is back in school today. She still has a long road ahead, but she's handling things very well. She gets her stitches out this week and will soon be fitted for some temporary teeth. The next step will be a bone graph in a few months to set things up for eventual permanent dental implants.

My daughter was hit by a line drive in high school and lost 2 teeth. The ball hit the 'perfect' spot and she did not break her nose, eye socket, jaw, etc.. They said she was pretty lucky. She was recommended for both cosmetic surgery and implants. We got lucky there too. The ER doc (who had 2 daughters who played sports) managed to get her stitches pretty much perfect and her scar follows her lipline just right, so the surgeon said no need. However, with the implants the dentist ended up not agreeing... something about her jaw bone being too narrow or something. She said we would spend a lot of money for the chance of it not working or not lasting. So, she has a set of bridgework and 2 fake teeth.

As a side note, I tried to make her laugh during the recovery period. Of course, her lips swelled up like 2 hotdogs. I told her there were women who paid big money for that look. As you can imagine, my 16 year old was not amused.

She is now 26 and you can't tell that anything happened.

I had front teeth issues, made worse by falling on my face trying to play hockey at age 14. Long story short, nearly 40 years later, it was time for new front teeth. The process took a while, involved some discomfort, and I really disliked the temporary teeth because I talked funny, and by the end of the day the fixodent wore off, and I had to take care not to sneeze or laugh my teeth out.

That was about 7 years ago, and I now have sturdy, decent looking front teeth. I wish I did it years ago. Maintenance is no problem. I use a water pik type device to make sure to keep the gums healthy, because I can't floss between by four front teeth. I don't know how long they'll last, but they seem to be very permanent.

I'm sorry this happened to your daughter, but in the long run, she'll be just fine.

I took my daughter back to the oral surgeon today and her stiches are officially out! She is thrilled. He also said that she will not need a bone graft, her bones came together very well.

Next stop will be to get some temporary teeth until she is old enough for her implants.

Glad to hear Cheek! How long before she will be able to get actual implants?

Happy to hear that so far she's healing well! Here's to positive reports with the next step and prayers for her continued recovery!!

Good report! You both must be relieved!

Tink, probably a couple of years. They said her k-9 teeth are still immature and moving. We will wait until they find their permanent home.

Can you believe that she talk to her couches yesterday about being included in the summer Sr. League. This kid!

she should have chatted it up with the recliners, I hear they're the real decision makers in that league

She sure is a trooper! Good for her that she didn't let this ruin her love of the game!

She tried to talk about it over dinner but that discussion got tabled.

Good news, Cheek!

sofa so good

:giggles:

Cheekee, if this doesn't work out, plenty of banks in northern Louisiana and Mississippi hiring...teeth are optional in both locations, so she would not feel out of place if you and TJ relocated!

She has no plans on being a banker so I think we are good here.

My son had his 2 front teeth knocked from a baseball when he was 9 years old. He wore a plate until he graduated from high school and was finished playing football. He did have to have bone grafts done because he lost his teeth so young. One tooth failed twice the third implant has been in for 3 years, the other tooth has done just fine. They make them a little shorter than the real teeth so that they don't take the pressure of biting on them. He learned early on to use his side teeth. My sons thought it was funny to talk to someone who didn't know he wore a plate and let it slip down and put it right back and continue talking while the person looked very funny at him, he eventually told them he wore a plate, he did this regularly. So sorry this happened to your daughter good luck, and my son was the same we were driving to the dentist office with his teeth in milk and an ice pack on his mouth and he asked if he could go to practice the next day!