Tooth Replacement With Diabetes

As some readers may be aware, diabetes and other systemic diseases that affect the bones make a patient instantly ineligible for getting dental implants. This may seem unfair to a lot of patients suffering from diabetes, but it is a completely valid stance medically, as the dentist is a doctor, who has taken the Hippocratic oath and simply cannot undertake a medical procedure that may, even slightly run the risk of damaging the patient.

Why can’t I have dental implants if I have diabetes?

Even if you are really good at keeping on top of your diabetes and take really good care of yourself, you simply cannot vouch for your body not taking a turn for the worst. Unexpected decline of bone density is one of the characteristic ailments of diabetes, and it happens unexpectedly. This means that it is a part of having diabetes, and thus placing a dental implant in your jawbone is not in your long term best interest. Other systemic diseases that make a patient ineligible to receive dental implants include osteoporosis, haemophilia, HIV and AIDS, and certain kinds of cancers.

Other tooth replacements

What you can do to replace teeth is to get dentures, fixed bridges or removal bridges, depending on how many teeth you have missing. If there is only one tooth that needs to be replaced, then you can easily get a dental crown. Removable dental crowns are very rare, so you will have to get it anchored to the tooth next to the tooth gap. If you have several teeth missing, then you need to get a bridge, and if all of the teeth in a row, or the overwhelming majority of them are gone, then you need a denture or atrial denture to regain proper chewing and biting function, and to speak properly.

Fixed or removable?

With dentures and bridges, you can choose between getting fixed or removable ones. They both have certain pros and cons to them. Removable dentures and dental bridges are easier to clean and thus more hygienic, but they are also less comfortable and decidedly less convenient. They have the massive disadvantage of falling out at inopportune moments, and they need to be re-adhered and placed back in. Fixed ones have the negative aspect of accumulating food detritus and being harder to clean, but they will not fall out as they are held fast in place. Before choosing which one is right for you, consult with your dentist first.