Randy Alvarez: “So if you’re only missing one tooth, why a dental implant over a traditional bridge?”

Dr. Rogers: “So, traditional bridges, it’s the way we’ve been doing it forever, to replace a single tooth is we’d cut down the teeth on either side to replace one tooth. And of course, once we do that, once those teeth are cut down, they’re not gonna last as long. And, if your bridge fails, they all fail. So, single implant, we can just focus on the one area and replace that single tooth with one implant, and keep the other teeth healthy.”

Randy Alvarez: “In the long run, is the single-tooth implant cheaper?”

Dr. Rogers: “In the long run, it is immensely cheaper, because if an implant is successful, which they are 95% of the time, it’s probably going to outlive you and I. So that implant is going to be in there forever. And, you know, a lot of patients are concerned about discomfort with implants.” 

Randy Alvarez: “It seems painful.” 

Dr. Rogers: “Yeah, it does; it sounds painful. But, in reality, a lot of my patients find that there’s minimal pain after an implant. They usually kind of equate it to having a filling done. So, it is much more comfortable than you would think.”

Randy Alvarez: “You also have sedation if they need it?”

Dr. Rogers: “Oh yeah, definitely!  Ivy sedation. We make things as comfortable as possible, it makes it easier.” 

Randy Alvarez: “You have the Nitrus gas too?”

Dr. Rogers: “We have Nitrus gas, sometimes we give them a little pill to kind of take the edge off, but ultimately, we want them to be as comfortable as possible. Dentistry is not comfortable, in general, but we want to make it as comfortable as possible when they get the treatment that they need.”

Randy Alvarez: “So if somebody in your family was of the age they could do this, and they were just missing one tooth, would you always do an implant over a bridge?”

Dr. Rogers: “Always, always. There is no way that I would do a bridge on one of my family members.”