I viewed the commercials for Smile Implant Center on television. I thought it sounded like a good offer, having a no-charge consultation and free CT scans. After having been told by my dentist that I had some decay under a molar crown, I wnated to obtain another opinion. When I had an exam by a dentist at S.I.C., I was told that I had five teeth that needed dental implants, one with a sinus lift (a bigger bone graft near the sinus cavity.) The price for the work was $13,000!  When I expressed shock, they quickly followed up with another quote for $4,000 that would include three extractions, one bone graft and two dental implants. I was disappointed that I needed more work than my own dentist had suggested but thought the price was o.k.

They didn't waste any time and scheduled me for surgery the next day. I was at the Center for 12 hours on the day of surgery. They give oral sedation and I guess the sedation wore off because I awoke to them suturing my mouth which was very painful. After three days of discomfort, I started to experience very intense pain. I had a sinus lift and two dental implants done by an oral surgeon in 2005 and did not experience anywhere near the degree of pain that I had after this surgery.

I went back for a consultation with another doctor at the Center and he said that the stitches (which are nonresorbable) looked fine and that the CT scan of the implants looked good also. He assured me that it was because of the amount of work that was done that I was in a lot of pain.

The pain became more excruciating and I kept calling and was ignored by many people at the Center. No one offered any explanation of why weeks after surgery I was still experiencing such pain. I am quite sure now that I must have had a 'dry socket' which is one of the most painful and debilitating conditions to occur after an extraction and can be very painful for a month! When I read that the majority of the pain could have been relieved by 'packing' the socket, I was quite upset about the lack of care or concern for my pleas for help.

I went back a month after my surgery and met with the head dentist/owner of S.I.C. By then, the most intense pain had finally subsided a few days before but I then became aware that there was a "pulling" in my cheek/gum area where the upper implant was placed. Apparently, part of the cheek tissue is used to cover the implant area. I had never had this kind of suturing before and couldn't believe that this was 'normal' and any side effect was to be expected.

It is over three months later and my gum area hurts every time I move my upper lip. If that is 'normal', doesn't seem right to me. When I continued to complain, I was dirrected to the Center's attorney who assured me that the dentist would 'make things right'. I am afraid to have this dentist try and repair the problem with a skin graft because I think he should have done it correctly the first time. My oral surgeon assures me that it will need a skin graft to correct the problem area.

Foolishly, when I agreed to have the surgery, they immediately made sure that my Care Credit account would take care of the whole procedure. I regret paying for the whole cost upfront. Every other dentist that places implants that I know, charges half when the implant post is placed and half when the crowns are put on. Now that I have a problem with the work that was done, I have to hassle with getting a refund.

The old adage: "If it is too good to be true!" seems to apply here. Buyer beware!  It is your body so investigate thoroughly what kind of sedation they will give you; how long you will be there (I was told a maximum of 8 hours and it was 12 hours); the type of implants they use; the way the implant area is sutured and if they use dissolvable stitches;  prevention techniques for preventing dry sockets (there are some), treatment should you experience a dry socket;  and time required for healing (they wait up to 8 months for crowns to be placed which is a long time to wait. You might want to get another opinion about how many teeth need to be extracted and/or how many implants you need. It is worth the expense to have that other opinion. Oh, and if you do decide to go to Smile Implant Center be sure and ask which dentist will be doing the surgery, sedation, suturing, etc. as there are many dentists there.

My first implant posts only took a couple of hours to be placed along with the sinus lift bone graft. It is a debatable question with dentists whether dental posts should be placed immediately after extraction. My extraction areas were healed when I had my previous implants placed.

I just want to orffer some things to consider before choosing your implant dentist. If I need further dental surgery in the future, I will not consider such a large facility where you are treated more like a number than a person.