Does anyone here have dental implants?

Underground
1

When I was in Little League I took a line drive off the face. Fifteen years later I needed to have my two front teeth removed and dental implants put in. That was a year and a half ago and everything is going great (knock on wood). When the doctor put them in he told me that they would function like normal teeth and I could do anything with them that I would do normally.

Now I have the urge to start training again and at the minimum compete in a few grappling tournaments. Does anyone here have experience fighting, training, or grappling with dental implants? Is it even safe to do? What type of mouthgaurd is the absolute best (price not an issue)?

Thanks for any input or advice.

2

I know nothing about you needs in this matter but what did come to mind would be for you to shoot an e-mail/tweet/or whatever for of communication would work to fighters you know for sure have teeth that are either missing or have been replaced like yours.

Did your doctor offer any suggestions?

G/L

3

I have had 3 of my teeth replaced with implants for 7 years now, i have fought 8 times with them and trained for all of those years most of which has been striking.
They have never gave me any problems but they always feel wierd when i take a clean shot to my mouth.
You should talk to your dentist and he can send off a mold of your teeth and have a professional mouthpiece made, it will run you a couple hundred but its cheaper than more implants.
Hope that helps buddy

4

I have two, and spoke to my dentist about this very issue.

The thing is, a real tooth has a sort of thin little sleeve between it and the bone. This gives it just a c*** hair's movement -- a bit better shock absorption. An implant is mounted directly on what is essentially a screw in your bone. No room for movement.

Knock a real tooth really hard? Maybe lose a tooth.

Knock an implant really hard? Break the bone.

My hard stand-up sparring days are done.

I still roll, and like an idiot I don't roll with my mouthguard in. But so far so good.

5

Thanks for the replies. I see mixed opinions, which is sort of what I thought would happen. Butch170, since you have experience getting hit with implants in, are your implants front teeth?

Also, what are the best mouthguards? I saw that Gladiator offers the deal where they send you out the mold and you send it back in for a custom fit guard. Are there any other companies, and which is the best? Thanks.