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Will Implants Make Endodontics Obsolete?

By: Kingston J. Amadan Dental implants are a popular option for those suffering from advanced tooth degeneration or instability in the underlying structural recesses of the tooth. In many instances, dental implants are the only option. Still, most patients have a choice as to whether an implant or endodontic treatment is the best course of action. While almost all patients will listen to the suggestions of their respective practitioners without a second opinion, the need for a second opinion is becoming more evident in the implant age.
Implants have begun to dominate the dental landscape as more and more dental surgeons are recommending implants as the preferred method of treatment for those with a variety of issues. While the benefits of implants are well documented, they aren’t always necessary. Traditional endodontics is capable of handling a variety of situations that can also be remedied through an implant but are just as well suited to endrodontic tooth preservation.
The reason implants are more popular has a lot to do with predictability and cost. Endodontics can be expensive, and the end result isn’t something that can be predicted with a great degree of accuracy. Endodontics also requires, on average, more visits to the dentist’s office than an implant, which for most patients isn’t a great selling point.
It isn’t that general practitioners are simply trying to force a blanket solution to teeth with advanced degeneration but aptly trying to offer the most economical and effective solution to a given problem. Still, the issue isn’t really whether implants are cheaper or come with less complications. The issue is whether tooth preservation, when there is a reasonable expectation of success, should be the expected and accepted way to proceed.
If the end justifies the means, then implant dentistry achieves the same aesthetic and operational results with less risk. If, indeed, tooth preservation is to a dentist what life preservation is to a surgeon or general physician (although comparing the two is admittedly unfair), perhaps the dental community needs to re-examine the emerging tendency to make implants the go-to option.
As with most procedures that aren’t immediately threatening to the patient’s overall well being, there are choices to be made. The best dentists will give their patients information on the available options, the pro’s and con’s of each and an educated guess as to the expected outcome of either. Since there are no hard and fast rules for the middle ground where either an implant or endodontics are both reasonable options, the patient should ultimately be the one to decide.