Dental implants in Ajax have a high success rate that is up to 98%, but there is always a tiny chance of failure. Sometimes a dental implant will begin to fail soon after surgery. Other times the implant has been healthy for years, or even decades before something goes wrong.
When properly planned and expertly placed, implant teeth can look and feel just like real teeth. Although they can be the best option for missing teeth in Oshawa, dental implants are not the cheapest or fastest solution, so it is important to protect your investment in your dental health and your smile.
What Can Go Wrong with Dental Implants?
Sometimes, dental implants in Whitby will begin to fail if the implants are inserted into poor quality bone, or where there isn’t enough bone around them for osseointegration to occur in the initial three months after surgery. During osseointegration, the implant post gradually fuses or bonds with the bone around it. If there isn’t enough bone or if the implant post moves during osseointegration, it can prevent the post from becoming fused firmly in the jawbone.
Excellent implant planning can help prevent implant failure soon after placement. Here at Durham Dental Solutions, we review your medical history thoroughly, ensuring there are no underlying health conditions that could affect implant placement. Every implant treatment is planned ahead, so we identify the best locations for dental implants by taking a cone beam CT scan. It provides 3-D images that we can manipulate to assess bone quality and quantity. If there isn’t enough bone in the right locations, bone grafting in Newcastle will restore missing bone.
By the time you have your implant surgery in Courtice, we already know just where each implant will be inserted, at which depth and even the angle. Meticulous planning helps to reduce the risk of implant failure, but you will need to keep your mouth healthy and clean. Poor oral hygiene greatly increases your risk of a disease similar to gum disease, called peri-implantitis. If you don’t clean around your dental implants frequently, plaque and tartar will soon build up, and these contain harmful bacteria.
Peri-Implantitis
Just like gum disease, peri-implantitis can infect the gums and bone around your dental implants. You may notice the area around the implants becomes painful and that your gums begin to bleed. The disease can cause gum and bone recession so that instead of being hidden from view, you start to see the implant post in your mouth. The implant might begin to shift or move position as it starts to work loose in the mouth. The good news is that peri-implantitis in Clarington may be treatable.
Treating Peri-Implantitis
Because peri-implantitis is a bacterial infection, treatment focuses on removing as much of the bacterial buildup from around your dental implants and from your gums or periodontal tissues as possible. One effective form of periodontal therapy is using laser dentistry. A dental laser helps to sterilize and remove severely infected tissues, getting rid of plaque and tartar buildup, giving your gums and jawbone a better chance to fight the infection effectively. Hopefully, dental laser therapy in Brooklin will be adequate to restore good dental health. Otherwise, surgical treatment might be necessary.
Surgical treatment for peri-implantitis in Pickering can treat more severely damaged tissues and replace any missing bone with bone grafts. After surgery, your gums are stitched around the implants so they can begin to heal.
Regular dental checkups and cleans with a dentist in Bowmanville help to prevent problems with dental implants. If you are ever concerned about implant health, try to see a dentist as soon as possible.
