Dental Implant Surgeon

There are some people and organizations who would like for the general public to believe that there is such a thing as a dental specialty wherein a dentist can specialize in implant dentistry.  However, when truth be told, there really is not any such thing.  Of course, there are some organizations that give credentials and awards to dentists.  This is meant to make these dentists look as though they truly are highly trained implant specialists.  However, these credentials are not recognized by the American Dental Association.  In fact, there are some states in which it is actually considered to be illegal to advertise such credentials.

Now there are some specialty areas of dentistry that are more closely aligned with dental implants than others.  These specialty areas include Prosthodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Periodontics.  You will want to choose one of these specialists to do your dental implants for you.  However, if someone tells you that they are a specialist in dental implants or that they are Board Certified in that specific area of dentistry, then you really should go elsewhere since it is never a good idea for them to start off by lying to you. 

You do need to understand that the American Board of Oral Implantology / Implant Dentistry does offer an exam that is meant to certify dentists as being competent in the area of Implant Dentistry.  There are a lot of dentists who have taken and passed this exam.  These dentists are in fact competent dental implant practitioners.  Some of them are even very exceptional in this area.  However, most of them do not have the significant amount of training that is necessary to make them qualified in these areas of dentistry.  The American Board of Oral Implantology / Implant Dentistry in conjunction with the AAID (American Academy of Implant Dentistry) are working together here in order to foster a specialty in dental implantology.  Together they are simulating exams that a true dental specialist may have to go through.  However, you still need to make sure that your dentist has had the proper training because without it even these exams really do not mean anything.

As you can already clearly see, dental implantology really is not considered to be a specialty.  In fact, the members of the AAID, as well as the dentists who have been certified by the ABOI/ID really are not specialists in dental implantolgy.  They may be specialists in other recognized areas of dentistry though.  It is just that dental implantology is not a specialty.  Therefore, almost every type of dentist, specialist or general practitioner is able to work in this area of dentistry.  This is why there are many outstanding specialists and general practitioners who are available to provide you with dental implant services.

If you still choose to go to a dentist who has this “credential” from the ABOI/ID but they do not have any other specialty degree, then you should not assume that he has significant training in dental implants.  You will need to check out their reputation and see what their results with other patients have been.  Herein you will want to carefully choose someone who has demonstrated that they do indeed have consistent success with dental implantology.

Posted in Dental Implants