Why Does My Dentist Say I Cant Get an Implant for My Extracted Molar?

Dental implants are a wonderful service for many people, but everyone may not be a candidate due to  poor quality bone.  It sounds as though you lost a significant amount of bone due to infection prior to having your tooth extracted.  The best option to see exactly the quantity of bone that you have in that area would be to have a 3D CBCT (CT scan) image taken of that area.  This can be done in a dental office that has a CT machine and will tell you the exact dimensions of your bone.  The doctor would easily be able to tell you if you are able to have an implant immediately or if a bone grafting procedure would need to be performed first.  

If a tooth was lost due to infection, it is not unusual to have lost significant bone. If there isn't more bone than the size of the implant, then an implant is not an option. Implants must be a minimum size depending on location, so perhaps a bridge is the best option. Another opinion after a clinical exam may help.

Dental Implants are almost always a viable option for replacement of a single or multiple teeth.  A molr tooth is no exception, even if there has been infection or root resorption.  It may take a secondary procedure to bone graft the area, but in an ideal situation for a molar tooth the area of the extracted tooth should be bone grafted IMMEDIATELY when the tooth is removed.  This allows for proper healing of the site and gives the ideal amount of bone and soft tissue for a dental implant that will last you the rest of your life. The implant is then placed after adequate healing occurs which can be fro 2-4 months usually.  As a Board Certified Oral & Maxillofaical surgeon I perform these procedures on a daily basis and have close to a 100% success rate performing the procedure this way.  I suggest you see a board certified oral surgeon to evaqluate your specific situation