What Can Go Wrong with Dental Implants?

An increasing number of people in Fort Wayne now resort to dental implants to replace their missing teeth. It’s a wise decision because dental implants offer a more permanent solution to tooth replacement. Besides, it comes with a more than 95% success rate.

However, like any type of surgery, there is always the possibility of something going wrong. The chances of mistakes occurring are reduced if you consult an experienced and reputable dentist and maintain good oral hygiene.

Call Family Dentistry & Aesthetics today at (260) 432-0561 to schedule an appointment.

Preliminary examination

In fact, dentists conduct a preliminary examination to ensure you are medically fit for dental implants. Your dentist will need to know your medical history. This is to ensure you are not suffering from some condition that may affect the implant’s healing process.

Do inform your dentist about any medications you take because some drugs may affect the implant healing process. Your dentist will also conduct a thorough examination of your jaw and existing teeth. This is to check if you have any dental disease that needs to be treated first before getting implants.

Bone loss is one condition that affects your implant’s success. Implants need a certain amount of bone for insertion and bonding with the jawbone. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough bone. Your dentist will add more bone through a bone graft to create better aesthetic results.

What can go wrong with dental implants?

There, however, is still the risk of these conditions occurring despite taking all these preventive measures.

1. Implant failure

Dental implants bond with the jaw bone through osseointegration. It is the process when new bone cells grow around the specially treated implant post, and it takes about three to six months. It is only after osseointegration is completed that your dentist fits the implant with the new implant tooth. There are cases where the dental implant doesn’t bond with the surrounding bone or gets loose once restored with the implant tooth. This condition is called implant failure.

It, however, is avoided if your dentist plants the implant in the right position and after osseointegration takes place. The implant should also be strong enough to support the implant tooth. Adding the implant too quickly onto a weak implant only increases the risk of implant failure.

2. Implant infection

There is always the risk of the implant getting infected some months or even years after the treatment! It’s mainly due to poor oral hygiene, and is thus avoidable. Yes, most people assume that since the dental implant is made of metal, there is no fear of an infection. So they don’t give much attention to it while brushing or flossing their teeth. However, they fail to realize that the implant is surrounded by living tissue, which can get infected with poor oral hygiene. There is also the risk of the infection leading to the erosion of the bone surrounding the implant.

Importance of long-term care

So while there is always the possibility of an implant infection or failure, it can be prevented. The most important preventive measure to adopt is practicing good oral hygiene at home. You also need to have regular check-ups and professional hygiene appointments. Your dentist will clean up your teeth and show you how to safely clean around your dental implants. Adopting these measures helps ensure nothing goes wrong with your dental implants!

Call our Fort Wayne dental office at (260) 432-0561 today!