All teeth in my lower jaw teeth had already been replaced
by implants in Belgium: then
following the necessary upper jaw extractions, I was waiting
for the bone to consolidate
before the next steps.
Because
of suspected poor bone quality, it had been decided
that I must go through an
operation to have my own bone removed from either my
cranium (skull bone) or head of
femur (thigh bone) and then await a further period for
this to "take" before even placing the
upper jaw implants. A further waiting period before loading
with the prosthesis would have
meant about a total of 2 years from February 2010 before
the upper jaw could be
completed.
Apart
from the high costs in Belgium, I was not at all happy
with this bone-taking phase. I was pleased,therefore,
to hear of the activities of Dr. Biju Thomas in Kerala,
India. Dr.Thomas informed me immediately of the option
to use artificial bone grafting. Knowing
the origin was bovine, I needed reassurance that there
was no risk of bovine spongiform
encephelopathy - for which Dr. Thomas provided convincing
evidence.
The
Indian plan compared to the Belgian plan above was
one trip to India in February 2010 and one trip in
November 2010 for planned completion of the job.
Financially,
the total cost for the Indian option, including all
flights and accommodation was a fraction of what it
would have cost in Belgium for my upper jaw implants
to be placed and
loaded with a prosthesis.
The
decision to go to India for treatment is however not
a “quick-fix” solution.
Having dental implants is a stage-process and if you
are considering this option it is
important to have realistic expectations of what it takes
before you commit to go to India.
One should be prepared to face the long flights, local
bumpy transport in India when your
mouth is feeling sensitive, fairly long periods walking
about and eating without any teeth at
all. It helps during this if you enjoy Asian food, as
many delicious options are easily
available other than soup and yoghourts.
From
my point of view here are the advantages of making the
2 visits to Kerala:
- The
implants-only specialisation and dedication of Dr.
Thomas and his team
in his clinic results in an experience that you would
have to search hard to
find anywhere else in the world outside a large specialised
hospital. This is
built upon his maxillofacial surgical qualifications
solidly earned in Ireland
and UK.
- The
guarantee that all surgical and technical procedures
will be 100%
personally supervised by Dr. Thomas.
- Technical
and laboratory work is also carried out locally -
meaning less
delays and more tailored care in preparing the modelling
impressions and
prostheses.
- The
patience and kindness shown by Dr. Thomas and his
experienced team.
Consideration is shown for all physical and psychological
discomfort in the
process. Thorough explanations are given for each step.
- Dr.
Thomas' confidence and belief in the natural healing
power of the human
body is the daily dynamic which makes him and his team
such excellent
operators.
- The
use of a greater quantity of shorter implants has
distinct advantages
which can be explained to you by Dr. Thomas.
- Availability
of branded implants means world-wide tools compatibility
which is
important for international patients. As backup in
any emergency is the
availability of making a shorter trip to Dubai to Dr.
Thomas' clinic there or by
a referral to one of his hand-picked colleagues in
Europe.
- The
advanced knowledge of Dr. Thomas in techniques such
as artificial
bone-grafting and sinus-lifting which were not even
offered or discussed as
an option in Belgium.
- If
you have booked 7 to 10 days extra time before your
return flight on each
trip (a wise contingency), then you can enjoy the relaxing
delights of Kerala
for a few days!
I
am delighted to report that so far everything worked
out well for me in practice. I now
have upper and lower implants placed and loaded and
I am enjoying a normal dental life
(eating, speaking, singing and sleeping) for the first
time in more than 5 years.
Geoff
Owen, Belgium
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