I was chewing on some ice like an idiot and I cracked one of my molars. I had to have the tooth remnant extracted and a titanium implant drilled into my jaw to replace the tooth by having my dentist put a crown on the implant after the implant will be in place for a couple months. I'm from Seattle but a close friend recommended that I go to see a doctor in Portland?! With that recommendation I hopped on a greyhound bus to see Dr. Lieblick down in Gresham. Full disclosure, i'm not a great dental patient even when I have a basic cleaning every 4-6 months. I don't do well with the basic stuff let alone the thought of having a major surgery done in my mouth...
After the cat-scan on my head they numbed the side of my mouth and extracted the tooth but one of the two roots didn't come out cleanly so they had to do a little drilling to remove it which I didn't feel at all although the noise was a little unpleasant. The drilling stopped after about 45 seconds then Dr. Lieblick said "we're all done". With my numb tongue and lips I mumbled "whuh bout the mimplant". He said "it's in and you are ready to go". I took 2 ibuprofen one time after the procedure and nothing in the 2 weeks since because there was no pain whatsoever after the initial soreness. from what I had heard from the two people who had dental implants in the past I expected that the procedure was going to be horrible and the pain would be excruciating for a while after the procedure. Obviously the procedure couldn't have gone any better! I guess that it pays to see a Doctor who's placed thousands of implants and not some oral surgeon hack let alone a general dentist who wants to try their hand at procedures they aren't trained to do. From the pre-surgical CT-scan of your mouth to setting a follow up appointment on the way out, based on my experience, you should expect to be in the office for under 45 minutes unless you have to be sedated for a more involved procedure like removal of all your wisdom teeth. I couldn't be more surprised that the implant placement was easier than a regular filling in my experience. The staff could have only been better if they would have given me a foot massage while I was having the procedure completed. From the greeting at the front desk to the smile on the way out it was less stressful and painless than the time my barber nicked my ear as he was cutting my hair. Seriously, if you need to have an extraction or implant then take my word that you can't do any better than Beacon Oral surgery at any of their four locations. I told my friends who'd had implants that they were whiners or they went to the wrong doc for their surgeries.... If you've been holding off because you're nervous, schedule an appointment and get your surgery done by the best doctors around Portland! I forgot to mention the worst part is that you'll want to chew food on the a different part of your mouth until you get your crown. I found that drinking protein shakes for some meals will help you shed a few pounds so there's another plus from getting an implant done by Beacon OMS. read more