Seeking opinions on a rather touchy situation....
Two implants (#18 and #19) are 22 years old. During the first six years, the crowns atop the implanted stems worked loose six times. Finally, in the sixth year, one implant stem actually snapped. All has been well until a month ago; both are coming loose again.
During the first few months following the initial surgery, it was discovered that the dentist (not the surgeon) was unaware the crowns had torque specifications. He had no torque wrench and I was sent back and forth to the surgeon who torqued the crowns.
Remedy hasn't materialized yet because the doctors, I assume, are in conference with one another. Cost probably isn't even being discussed. This may become an issue I'd like to avoid but I also want to be fair. I distinctly recall the surgeon telling me the "servicing" of those implants was NC for life. But those crowns... here's where things may get sticky.
From my decades of experience with simple nuts and bolts, the more a nut is placed on and removed from its bolt the less of a grip it seems to have; easier to remove the next time. Because one of these implants had its screw tampered with at least half a dozen times (the other snapped, was replaced, and never loosened) - which wouldn't have happened if it were torqued properly in the first place - we may have a shared responsibility here. I'm inclined to lean in that direction.
What say you... and what's a fair share on my part?
Two implants (#18 and #19) are 22 years old. During the first six years, the crowns atop the implanted stems worked loose six times. Finally, in the sixth year, one implant stem actually snapped. All has been well until a month ago; both are coming loose again.
During the first few months following the initial surgery, it was discovered that the dentist (not the surgeon) was unaware the crowns had torque specifications. He had no torque wrench and I was sent back and forth to the surgeon who torqued the crowns.
Remedy hasn't materialized yet because the doctors, I assume, are in conference with one another. Cost probably isn't even being discussed. This may become an issue I'd like to avoid but I also want to be fair. I distinctly recall the surgeon telling me the "servicing" of those implants was NC for life. But those crowns... here's where things may get sticky.
From my decades of experience with simple nuts and bolts, the more a nut is placed on and removed from its bolt the less of a grip it seems to have; easier to remove the next time. Because one of these implants had its screw tampered with at least half a dozen times (the other snapped, was replaced, and never loosened) - which wouldn't have happened if it were torqued properly in the first place - we may have a shared responsibility here. I'm inclined to lean in that direction.
What say you... and what's a fair share on my part?