Who Is a Candidate for Mini Dental Implants

You may have been told you are too old for implants or that there is not enough room to replace a missing tooth. In this video, Dr. Regan Ackerman explains why it is worth having your situation evaluated and what she checks before recommending mini dental implants.

You may be wondering if you’re a candidate for the mini dental implant. Many times I get asked, "Is there a limitation on age?" The answer is no. So I’ve done the mini implant on a patient as young as 18 years old. I have done a mini implant on a patient as old as 96 years old.

You are never too old to have mini implants. I’m thinking especially of older patients who think "I’m too old," or, "I don’t want to spend the money on it." I see patients like you every day and change their lives. I’ve seen many patients in their 90s at this point, and they’re struggling with their dentures. And when you’re older, kind of the last thing you have to do is be social and eat, and your family comes and takes you out to eat, and you want to be able to eat. So being able to stabilize the denture and do a snap-in denture can be life-changing for someone in their 80s, 90s, 70s.

Don’t wait, don’t think you’re too old, because you’re never too old, especially for the mini implants, because it is a lot less invasive. I don’t have to sedate you, I don’t have to make any incisions to place the implant. And along kind of the opposite line, a lot of times, like I said, I’ve done an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old, maybe they were born what we call congenitally missing some teeth, especially those front incisors. Sometimes they went through ortho, they did everything, and only to find out they still didn’t have enough space to place a big surgical implant.

I have been able to help them out because it’s a smaller diameter implant and I didn’t have to have as much space, so I was able to replace those missing teeth that they were born without and then told they didn’t have enough room for a surgical implant.

So with the mini implant, I was able to replace those teeth and permanently put a single tooth in that space so that poor 18, 19-year-old could go off to college, not have to have a retainer or missing teeth and live the rest of their life and get to have a tooth. So there are many different ways to do mini implants. A lot of people are candidates. Don’t ever think you’re not a candidate. It’s very few and far between that I have to tell somebody they’re not a candidate for the mini implant.

That’s where the free consultation comes in. Please schedule the consultation. It’s a free 3D x-ray. I’m going to make sure you have enough bone, look at your medical history. Sometimes there are some things in your medical history that we do need to take into account and discuss, and we’ll do that at the consultation.

Please don’t think you’re not a candidate for a mini implant because most people are. Thank you.

If you’re interested in learning more about mini dental implant candidacy, we invite you to schedule a free consultation with Dr. Regan Ackerman at Freedom Dental Implants in Louisville, Kentucky. We look forward to giving you the freedom to smile.