I'm writing this in hindsight, after having several implants done by Dr. Dodge over many years. Dr. Dodge is a very nice person. When I first went to him, he struck me as very conscientious and for a while, he had a hygienist that I liked a lot (Barbie, who has since retired).
I think it's a great idea to get a second opinion (maybe a third) before any procedure. All these doctors and dentists know what they know and a lot of them are very rushed. They're making snap decisions that can impact your life in a big way.
Sometimes dentists seem less interested in solving health issues than in selling cosmetic procedures. If I come into your office in excruciating pain, because of your procedure, I'm really not interested in hearing that I should get my teeth bleached. Really not interested. Dr. Dodge didn't seem to be mentally registering what had happened and was treating me like I was just unpleasant to be around. I'm sure I was. I was in tremendous pain and he wasn't offering to help me in any meaningful way.
A dental implant is not something to take lightly. When it goes wrong, it can cause you a lot of pain and misery. When it goes right, expect the bone around it to recede within 15-20 years. Also, expect you could lose the opposite molar, since it will erupt to make contact with the implant crown, which Dr. Dodge always sets a bit lower than the original tooth.
IMHO, an implant is something to be avoided if there is any other option. Dr. Dodge chose to extract an asymptomatic tooth that had resorbed and the procedure went very badly. He was made aware of the resorption several years earlier by an endodontist, but made no effort to save the tooth. I had a lot of concern about getting that particular implant, because it was at the site of a jaw fracture. I expressed that concern to the point of exhaustion (his and Dr. Sessa's). I suspect that a nerve was damaged as a result of that implant and a poorly-fitting crown that was forced over it by Dr. Sessa. Their procedures seem to have caused a bit of facial paralysis, as well as a lot of pain and a severely receding gumline in the area, which Dr. Dodge wasn't interested in examining. I called his office, because a general dentist wanted to bond the exposed dentin and I thought, as a periodontist, Dr. Dodge might have an opinion. Nope. Dr. Sessa told me to take painkillers. Dr. Dodge told me that some people can't eat hard foods and that some people are just really prone to dental issues. None of that was at all helpful. .
It's obvious to me now that my bite is misaligned and if that had been corrected and my vitamin D deficiency identified, I probably wouldn't have had teeth erupting and could have avoided all but one of the implants that Dr. Dodge performed. Hindsight is 20-20.
I strongly recommend vitamin D testing and disposable nightguards that are just flat. If your bite is not right, the custom nightguards are an incredible waste of money and force your jaw into an uncomfortable position, which only makes you clench and grind more, causing more dental trauma and TMJ. Honestly, I think the purpose of the grinding reflex is to correct a bite issue, but if you have crowns, it doesn't work, because they don't wear and instead it just stresses the ligaments. That stress leads to problems that some think should be solved by extraction, which is a horrible solution.
I really hope this helps someone. read more