I have some metal allergies, but I am losing a couple of teeth, in different places. I could get a dental bridge, but that would mean crowning four healthy teeth. I’d really like to get dental implants for those two teeth but don’t know if that is possible with them being made of metal. What do you think?
Benny
Dear Benny,
The Type of Metal Allergy Makes a Difference.

When you said you had a metal allergy, you didn’t mention which metal or metals you are allergic to. That will make a difference in which way you go. Some metal allergies are common, like an allergy to nickel.
Dental implants are made from titanium unless otherwise specified. We’ll get to the non-titanium implants in a moment. Titanium is highly biocompatible and serving in various prosthetics for decades. Very few people are allergic to this particular metal. If your allergy is not specific to titanium, you can just get dental implants without any worries. But, what if your allergy is to titanium?
Zirconia Dental Implants

If it does turn out that you have a titanium allergy, boy do I have good news for you! There are now metal-free zirconia implants. Zirconia is dubbed ceramic steel. They are well witin the requirements to be strong enough to serve as a prosthetic tooth root.
It’s a little trickier to find a dentist who provides these, not because they are sub-par, but because they are newer. Many dentists like to wait until something has been around a LONG time to start incorporating them into their practice. However, it will be worth it to you to find a dentist who does provide them so you don’t have to get those dental bridges. It’s rarely a good idea to place porcelain crowns on healthy teeth. I always recommend keeping as much healthy tooth structure as possible.
Planning Ahead Saves You Money
Another thing I always recommend to someone needing dental work such as a dental crown, whether for an implant, stand-alone, or dental bridge, is they think long term.
If you are ever going to whiten your teeth, the time to do it is before your crown is made. Because the color you choose for your crown is permanent, if you choose to do teeth whitening later, your natural tooth struture will whiten but not the crown. The only way to get your teeth to match then is to replace the crown and have it made the newer color.
This blog is brought to you by Salem, MA Dentist Dr. Randall Burba.