What Should You Do If Your Implant Becomes loose?
If performed by a skilled oral surgeon, dental implants in Richmond, or indeed anywhere else in the country have a success rate of around 95%. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the other 5% have experienced surgical problems, but that there are many other factors beyond the control of the surgeon that can also affect the success or failure of an implant. As a result 100% success rates can never be guaranteed. With this in mind, what should you do if you experience a loose implant?
To put it simply, you need to tell your oral surgeon right away as any delay may further increase the chances of bone damage. The only course of action when an implant becomes loose is to remove it and start again.
You can’t wait for the implant to ‘tighten up’ as it’s extremely unlikely to happen. Therefore once the implant has been removed, the site has to be cleaned up and made ready (this may involve more bone grafts) and a new implant put in its place. Clearly this is both time consuming and costly, and often causes a great deal of stress for the patient. So why exactly do implants fail, if it isn’t through the fault of the surgeon? Let’s take a look.
Probably the most common cause of implant failure is the lack of osseointegration. This is the natural bone fusion process that takes place over time when the titanium root is implanted into the jaw bone. In most cases bone tissue fuses around the implant without a hitch, making for a super-strong platform. However sometimes, a layer of soft tissue forms between the implant and the bone causing the implant to be able to move around.
There are also other reasons that the osseointegration process can fail and these include poor bone quality, bacterial contamination, implant infections due to poor oral hygiene and smoking. Sometimes an implant will even fail without any surgical complications or poor post-surgical healing processes and in these cases, the cause remains unknown.
The key with a loose implant is the quicker you act, the less damage will be caused.
If you have any further questions on how to deal with loose implants or on any other matter regarding dental implants in Richmond, then contact Sheen Dental. Dr Harmit Kalsi and the team have been successfully fitting implants for many years and as such have the experience and the knowledge to answer any questions or concerns that you have. Call us today on 020 8876 5277 or visit our website at www.sheendentalimplants.co.uk to book your free, no-obligation consultation.