Dental implants in the U.S. are quite expensive, but at least there is the general guarantee that your implants will be properly inserted and stay put indefinitely. If you go outside the U.S., there is no regulation for this surgery and no guarantees that you will get the same level of professionalism you would get at home. In fact, if you get dental implants abroad in Asia, India, Africa, or any other country, you could be getting a "back alley" job performed by someone who does not know what they are doing and is drilling into your face. If you have already gone to another country in an attempt to get cheaper dental implants, and the implants are already giving you trouble, here is what happens next and what you need to do.
Be Prepared to Pay Even More Money to Fix Things
Your dentist will need to remove any and all implants where the screws are in the gum tissue but not the bone. Foreign "dentists" frequently screw implant screws up through the gums, but rarely do they manage to hit bone and get the screws into the bone. This is a very big mistake, since the whole point of implants is to get the screws into your facial bone on the top and your jaw bone on the bottom so that the bone grows around the screws and secures the implants fast in place. Ergo, you may need a lot more surgery and a lot more money to correct the botched job of some foreigner playing dentist.
Schedule a Consult and a Surgery Dates
Initially, you will need a consult with a dentist that does dental implants. This requires an x-ray to see how poorly the implants were inserted and how much work is required to remove them and insert new implants properly in place. Then you will schedule one or more surgeries to remove the poorly inserted implants and insert the abutment screws for new implants. This is a lot of surgery, and your gums and bones will need a lot of time to heal. You will need to wait several days to weeks before you can return and have the crowns of your implants fitted and affixed.
Follow-ups
Keep your follow-up appointments. After having a terribly botched implant surgery and the removal of those screws from your mouth and face, your dentist will want to monitor everything to make sure you have no infections. He/she will also want to take another set of x-rays a few months after removing the foreign implants and replacing them with ones that were inserted properly. He/she is checking to make sure that the bones are growing around the implants and securing them fully into your jaw and face.
