Has anyone out there had a dental implant? Are you happy with it?!

Has anyone out there had a dental implant? Are you happy with it?

I just had a back tooth extracted. I am slated for the dentist to start on a bridge next week. I have been looking into dental implants. It's kind of scary thinking about having a screw in your jaw, but they say the implant lasts about 20 years and a bridge lasts about 7 years. I wanted to know how people felt about a dental implant they have had as well as a dental bridge. Pain is a big factor but I had the extraction done with a local so I would also like to know the pain factor if at all possible.

Go for it, I am a hygienist and Bridges are terrible, first lets discuss the bridge option.
You have this missing tooth correct and now you have two teeth on either side of it that are FINE but in order to put a bridge on they have to be filed down and have the bridge sit over them, essentially they are crowned. These teeth have to take the chewing forces over them and make up for that missing tooth...you can get decay around the margins of the crowns and then guess what = time for a NEW bridge and MORE money!!! You have to floss UNDER the bridge where food is constantly getting stuck and if you do not..well, it starts to smell a lot. A lot of people do not take care of them right and end up with periodontal disease around what was once perfectly healthy teeth...
Implants:
Implants are WONDERFUL. Easy to keep clean and it is very hard to tell it is fake. The implant process is 1. the periodontist evaluates the area to make sure you have enough bone to support and implant 2. the surgery is relatively simple, it is sore but you have no tooth there and what they will do is flap the gum, drill into the bone, place the implant and cover it back up. The implant itself has little tiny holes in ito for bone to grow through so it cannot EVER come out. After 6 months - sometimes less time is needed - you come back and they numb you up and the put the top on - the part that is anchored to the crown. Your General Dentist will make the crown (white) part, take impressions, etc.

AS far as pain. It is NOT that bad, sore in the area but bc you can chew on the other side, its not bad. Also, extractions seem to bother people the same as this OR more. The sound is unpleasant BUT they can give you a sedative.

Lastly, if your general dentist is recommening this and wants to do all the work themselves with no specialists involved I recommend you RUN out the door. General DDS's are very good at a lot of things but they are not good at everything...periodontists and oral surgeons have an additional 3-5 years of training beyond General DDS's and this is not a simple procedure you can learn in a weekend class that some General Dentists try to take and then do the procedures. Just be careful of that. We have seen this several times and the implant failed and had to be surgically removed, terribly for the patient.