What You Should Do If Your Dental Implant Fails
Unfortunately the human body isn’t the perfect organism and this means that any type of surgery performed on it can never be 100% guaranteed. By extension this also equates to dental implants. In Richmond, here at Sheen Dental we have a very high success rate (usually in the high 90% bracket) however even with our expertise, some implants can and do fail. With this in mind, what should you do if you experience a failed or failing implant?
Before we answer this, it’s worth going into a number of factors that might bring about a failed implant. These include….
- Infection
- Incorrect positioning
- Low bone mass
- Fractured or broken implants caused by incorrect bite or teeth grinding
- Teeth overloading
- Lack of experience (dentist)
- Lack of ongoing oral care (patient)
- Bodily rejection (although extremely rare)
- Continued smoking
As you can see the possibilities for the outcome of implant failure are wide and varied. Some might be caused by the dentist performing the procedure, some by the patient through lack of care, and some might even be caused by nature. That said, whatever the reason, if an implant is failing you should contact your dentist immediately. A rapid response to any issue will enable the dentist to deploy corrective measures. The good news is that if spotted early enough most implant problems are minor and should easily be rectified. However if the problems aren’t spotted early enough and allowed to continue then they can threaten any long-term viability of an implant.
Having said all that, even if an implant has failed, most surgeons can usually attempt a second implant, usually a few weeks or months after the area has healed. So even at this stage, all is not lost. However as with most things in life, problems are best dealt with when spotted early.
So what should you be looking out for?
In essence, anything abnormal in and around the implant area, particularly within the first 3-6 months as this is when the majority of implant failures occur. These include
- Redness or swelling
- Pain when touching or brushing the area
- Abnormal colouring around the gum area (could be a sign of gum disease)
- Looseness of the implant itself
- Unpleasant taste in the mouth coming from the implant area
The key thing to do to avoid total implant failure is to attend regular dental check-ups. Your implant dentist will know from your previous visit the healthiness of your implants. Therefore any changes could indicate an issue. That said, not all problems can be spotted by the untrained eye and most are painless. More often than not it leaves the patient with little or no indication that problems are occurring. This is why regular dental check-ups are vital to continued implant success.
If you’d like to know more about dental implants in Richmond the why not speak to Sheen Dental. We’ve been successfully fitting implants for many years so why not book a free, no-obligation consultation with us. To find out more about how we can help you, visit our website at www.sheendentalimplants.co.uk or contact us directly on 020 8876 5277 today.