What are the risks of getting dental implants for cancer survivors?

It depends on how big the surgery is. If it’s done in a very straightforward manner, say, you’re just putting in one dental implant on very good bone, then you’d hardly feel anything. It’s kind of like the side effects you feel after something less than an extraction. Because you’re basically just putting a pin into your bone. You could feel almost like there’s nothing, perhaps just soreness.

This is actually quite controversial. I think what you’re asking is if someone has osteoporosis and is taking the drug -- oral bisphosphonates are the drugs that actually prevent the bone from turning over. If you've been taking oral bisphosphonates for more than 5 years - I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute contraindication. There are some studies that actually show that if you stop it for a certain amount of time, the blood supply can actually return. But the thing is that no one actually knows, and if you look at the research no one actually knows how well it stops it.