Dental Implant after many years of extraction

by Ellen
(San Jose, CA)

I am planning on getting a dental implant after many years of extraction:

I had my 2nd from the last molar in the lower jaw extracted in early 2005. At the time of extraction, I was told that I have enough bone and did not need any bone-grafting for an implant. However, I could not afford to get an implant done.

Now I'm ready but my very last molar next to the missing one has been tilted inward and forward. There is still enough space for an implant, but I was told it would be best if I get it straightened.

Since I know I can't get orthodontic treatment after the implant is placed, I had decided to get braces for comprehensive treatment to fix my overbite and little bit of crowding as well. I will have braces for about 1~1.5 years. However, my dentist advised my bone has been thinned out already and may require bone-grafting before the implant placement.

I was planning to get pregnant in less than 2 years, and it dunned on me that it may take more than 2 years to get the implant done.

I am wondering...will my bone get much thinner if I wait to get the implant done after I have the baby? (I'm also worried that my ortho-treated molar will tilt again if i wait).

Also, if I wait to get pregnant until after I'm done with implant, would pregnancy cause any failure to the dental implant?

Both ortho and dental implants are high-cost and I just want to make sure I'm not doing something that will be a waste of money in the end.

Thanks.