Dental implant treatment in Ajax has a very high success rate, typically exceeding 95%. However, there is always a risk of implant failure that can occur soon after implant placement or years later.
Recognizing the signs of implant failure can help you take action sooner. At Durham Dental Solutions, we can provide various treatments when implants appear to be failing. Prompt treatment can help to save them.
What Are the Signs that an Implant Is Failing?
Various symptoms can occur if an implant in Pickering is starting to fail, including:
· Pain or discomfort that persists beyond a normal healing period or begins months or years after an implant was originally inserted.
· Gum inflammation around the implant, and the gum tissue can start to swell or bleed.
· Gum recession around an implant in Whitby can begin to expose the metal screw, which looks unsightly and can destabilize the implant.
· Problems chewing on the implant, as it can start to feel increasingly uncomfortable.
· Mobility in the implant, as a healthy, strong implant should never move.
What Can Cause Implant Failure?
Dental implant failure in Oshawa can be due to poor oral care. If you fail to clean around your implants properly, it can allow bacteria found in dental plaque and tartar to build up. These bacteria produce toxins that can infect the gum and bone surrounding your implant, eventually leading to a condition called peri-implantitis.
Peri-implantitis can produce symptoms similar to those of gum disease, where the gum around the implant becomes increasingly infected, swollen, and starts to bleed. Eventually, the infection spreads to the jawbone surrounding the implant.
At other times, implant failure can occur if the implant post fails to integrate with the surrounding bone. Integration can fail if you smoke, as this restricts blood flow to the bone and gum surrounding the implant. Certain health conditions can also increase the risk of implant failure, such as uncontrolled diabetes.
Treating Failing Dental Implants
Our dental implant dentist in Bowmanville can provide suitable treatment for failing implants, helping to save them. The available treatments include both surgical and nonsurgical procedures.
One very useful technique that we can use is laser dentistry. Our dental laser can gently and effectively clean an infected implant post, removing plaque and tartar buildup and helping to eliminate the harmful bacteria that cause the infection.
If some gum tissue is severely damaged, we can also use the dental laser to remove it accurately and precisely. Laser dentistry in Clarington requires no scalpels or stitches, and recovery is significantly faster afterwards.
Sometimes, surgical treatment is needed to clean a significant buildup of plaque and tartar from around the implant post. Other treatments may include bone grafting in Newcastle to restore the bone destroyed by this disease.
Preventing Implant Failure
We would much prefer to prevent implant problems, and often this is easily achievable with a proper maintenance program.
When you visit our practice for dental implants, we will discuss the importance of regular maintenance, which includes excellent daily oral hygiene, routine dental checkups, and professional dental cleanings.
It isn’t difficult to keep implants clean, and our hygiene team can demonstrate how to brush and floss around them, or use other tools to remove plaque buildup and food debris. We can ensure you know exactly how to keep your implants clean and hygienic.
Regular professional maintenance is essential. Typically, most people require a checkup and hygiene appointment every six months. If you have certain risk factors that could affect your dental implants in Courtice, we may suggest more frequent cleanings, sometimes every three months.
Above all, keep a close eye on your dental implants, and if you notice anything amiss, please get in touch with us. The sooner we address a problem, the more likely we are to achieve a successful outcome.
