Page 1 of 1
osteoporosis and micropins
Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:33 am
by starzin
I don't know if there are any older brace buddies out there!
I hope so!
My ortho wants me to get micropins, but I am fearful of it since I have osteoporosis.
Should I be concerned?
Thanks!!!
Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 12:31 pm
by Lisa65
Hi and welcome!
There's a few of us with micro implants and also several of us in the more "mature" age group
The oldest member is in his 70s and there are several of us in our 40s and 50s.
I've had a quick search for anything pertaining to the use of screw implants in a person with osteoporosis, but without success. Perhaps one of our resident dentists or orthodontists will be able to comment.
But micro-implants are not like "proper" dental (teeth) implants. They are only in place for a relatively short time and they do not generally rely on osseointegration (fusing into the bone). The screws used are pretty small, usually about 10mm long and 2mm in diameter. The failure rate of implants is fairly high anyway - about 20%. If one fails it is removed and re-sited elsewhere.
This is purely my opinion and I might well be wrong so please don't take it as gospel, but I would imagine that if your bone is dense enough for orthodontics then it would be strong enough to take a screw implant.