Thinking about an implant vs a bridge?
If you found this video helpful, I put together a simple guide that lays out how I explain this decision to patients, step-by-step, in one place.
You can find it here: https://dr-houlik.kit.com/dental-implant

Never ruin teeth to replace one tooth

Dental implants in the US are outrageously expensive.  However, in Mexico implants are done with the exact same materials, tools, and training.  There is NO difference and many Americans go south to save a ton of money.  In Mexico an implant is $1,000 or less AND in the US it's between $5,000 and $6,000.  The only reason for the difference is PROFIT.  American dentists are stealing their patients blind!

In my opinion a bridge is more efficient and less expensive and less intrusive.
I’ve been a dental technician for over 45yrs and I’ve made thousands of crowns, bridges and implants.

Interesting video. I had two bridges that were originally put in nearly 47 years ago when I was 21 years old. Then about 15 years ago I broke one of them accidently by biting down on an olive pit. It had to be replaced then. This past year there was a pocket of infection at the root of the anchor tooth of my one original bridge. Amazingly the dentist was able to drill through the bridge, fix the problem and reseal the bridge anchor tooth. The nearly 50 year old bridge held up great through all of it. I got my money’s worth for that bridge!😅

I have a bridge and have had it in place since 1985. No problems.

I have a bridge for my front teeth and its almost working perfect from last 20 years

As a fellow dentist I'm stunned to see you talk about implants as they are god's gift on earth . Don't you think that to be fair you should've mentioned rejection of the implant at the time of insertion( by not being able to torque it enough ), after a few months or even a year( that will have  more drastic repercussions on the bone and it will cost more to have bone grafting procedures in order to have bone height either for a bridge or for a denture) , another fact is that you don't give the money back if the implant fails , cleaning is almost impossible at the junction epithelium with the implant and gives rise to periimplantitis , you also forgot to mention that the bone resorbs even with an implant in place about 1 mm in the first year and 0.5 mmm each subsequent year. There are other downsides of the implants and you know them very well . Just food for thought !

I was in China and went to a Dental school and got my implant for about $400 if I recall. This was about 19 years ago and its still feels normal and strong.

Got my implants since I was 35yrs old and I’m 61 now tried to get some opinion with my dentist and she told there’s no need to replace it’s still working fine solid in it’s place, so in my opinion implants are the best investment

I watched my partner in tears with his implant procedure.

I’ve had three implants in the past 10 years I’m 63 now and they’re still working and strong

As another retired  dentist  with a 20yrs  med lab background,  Please give your  dentist  a complete  MEDICAL HISTORY. Conditions  that can possible  affect  your success are - autoimmune ( lupus, arthritis,) chronic alcoholism, chemical  allergies ( some disinfectants), blood disorders) . Coming from medicine  to dentistry was a shocker  to me how little medical information  was given to dental students. Even on the drugs the dental patients  would list .Certain  drugs indicate  a psychological disorder  and most patients  would list the drug but not the disorder  such as schizophrenia. I had to leave dentistry  due to acquiring  occupational asthma  via the disinfectant used after the 3rd  reaction and rushing  to ER , put on breathing machine  on advice  of cardiologist and pulmologist  I quit. Have a very high level of sensitivity now. Epi pen carrier

I don’t like either ideas. I don’t like grinding down the neighbor teeth for the bridge. I just had an implant done and I am getting stuff stuck between the teeth, the implant is not centered very well. I had ice cream last night and the cold affects the implant pretty quickly and uncomfortably.

Thanks for sharing, I m going through this pain as well. Natural teeth no doubt never be comparable.😢

Some people have headaches after getting implants.  It is hard to get rid of the implants, no dentist want to remove implants since it is very complicated surgery.  I personally know people who approached many dentists to remove implants and none wanted to do it.  😮. It is very complicated process to remove implant.  No one talks about it.  I wonder why???

I had a dental implant in 2016, which cost $3,000 for the implant alone (NOT the crown, etc).  It has needed tightening twice. Before the first tightening, I switched to another dentist, who was relatively young. She did not have the manufacturer's driver tool needed to adjust it, so I was had to go back to my former dentist, who I am still with today. He explained to me that there are five major dental implant manufacturers, and each requires their own tool. Over the years, he had collected all five, but this young dentist had only one (not the one I needed). Don't get stuck with a dentist who doesn't have the tool necessary to adjust your implant!

So I guess brushing and flossing my teeth paid off, only bridge I need is the one going over the Halifax River here in Florida. Imagine a Florida guy at 73 with all his teeth!

Ive had 2 bridges done by my Thai dentist, no problems, he retired during Covid. Very skilled man.

I had a bridge done back in 2003 and never had any issues with it.  Still strong as can be.