Dental implants and bridges

C

CronusMom

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My son is a rising senior in HS and applying to the USNA. He has braces which are scheduled to come off in 2 weeks (Yay!) so no problem there.

The odd thing is that he is missing his 2 adult lateral teeth -- kind of a birth defect as he had the baby teeth but no adult teeth to follow. The braces made space for adult-sized teeth, and his option is to have permanent implants or Maryland bridges (basically false teeth that will be bonded to the adjacent teeth). We have decided to hold off on implants since he is 17, and I know he is not finished growing.

We have an appointment with the dentist 3 days after the braces come off for his impressions for the Maryland bridges. The only other option would be to have false lateral teeth on his retainer, but then he'd have to wear the retainer 24/7 forever. He'll be in his retainers at night for life (I'm told), but after the first few months, he won't have to wear them during the day, just at night.

So my question is: How does the USNA feel about implants and/or permanent bridges? Is there any reason to think son would get DQ for this?
 
As long as the implants/bridges are in place, with no residual problems there should be no issue from a DoDMERB standpoint.
 
There probably won't be a problem but I suggest not doing any kind of procedure until talking to Mr. Mullen about it first. Never hurts to make sure.
 
My son had the same issue, had an implant done - and was cleared...we had to send a new x-ray after the implant was completed and healed. Implants take time, so I'd start timing the process so he is completely finished in time for your future R-day...

My son had a Maryland bridge until his face was deemed mature enough -- he broke it twice (once eating a peanut butter sandwich) -- a very expensive proposition -- wish he could have had the implant sooner --

we also combined the implant w/ wisdom tooth extraction (one general anesthesia) --

good luck!
 
Thank you for your replies! I have emailed Mr. Mullen.

Another13Mom, it's nice to hear there are others with the same odd defect. I had never heard of such a thing until it came up with our son, but both the dentist and ortho assured us it was a somewhat common occurrence. My husband only had 1 wisdom tooth, so go figure. :rolleyes:
 
Our email was down for the last 36 hours, so I'll be answering shortly:thumb:
 
I got it. Thank you so much for your positive response.

This forum is great!
 
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