When I started the dental implants process, I knew it would be a journey. I walked into it with realistic expectations of timelines, etc. I knew that it could be a year from start to finish, once I actually had surgery. Fortunately, for me, we’re coming in just under the one year mark.

THE JOURNEY TO DENTAL IMPLANTS – PART 10

My surgery for zygomatic implants and mandibular dental implants Friday, October 5th, 2018 at UIC. We recently travelled to UIC for the installation of my permanent prosthesis was on September 13, 2019.

Final payment

We knew that before my final prosthesis would be installed, we had to make the final payment. We initially thought that we would have to pay $16,500 out of pocket at this visit, but it turned out we only had to pay $15,000.

Thank God we’re able to raise funds and cover a portion of that, and save a portion, and borrow a portion. We’ve spent years building our credit, so finding a loan in Missouri would have been doable, but we were able to borrow elsewhere. Now to wait for reimbursement from our insurance, and see how much we’ll actually get back. #holdsbreath

The Final Steps

Once the financial part was taken care of, it was time to sit in the hot seat at last.

I can’t even begin to tell you the wealth of emotion that came over me when I looked at my final smile for the first time.

This.

This is the smile I’ve dreamed of having one day.

I’ll come back in a few months to make sure everything is seated as it should be, then it will be yearly maintenance checks.