Dental Patient Missing His First Top Premolar

What is a dental implant? A dental implant is surgically attached metal post to your jawbone as a support to an artificial tooth. After placed, a dentist or an oral surgeon screw in a replacement tooth to the implant. The success rate for a dental implant is high but there are still complications and failures that can occur, leading to an implant falling out in Brentwood, TN. Studies show that about 5 to 10 percent of dental implants fall out, immediately following the procedure or years down the road.

 

What Are The Dental Implant Failure Risk Factors?

Gum Disease

Damage caused to the jawbone and gums from an infection. You must have healthy gums in order to have dental implant surgery. If you have active gum disease, a dentist will not perform the procedure and they will recommend gum disease treatment.

Smoking

Restricts the blood flow to the gums, causing the healing processed to be slowed. Smokers’ likelihood of have dental implant failure rate up to 20 percent in recent studies. Just because you smoke doesn’t disqualify you from getting dental implants, it is encouraged that you stop smoking for a least a month to two months so that the implant and heal properly.

Insufficient Jawbone

You must have enough healthy jawbone for the implant to be placed surgically in your jaw. You may need to see a specialist to get bone grafting depending on the current health of your jawbone.

Medical Conditions

Autoimmune diseases or conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes can be a possibility factor for dental implant failure if diagnosed, which are conditions that causes the healing process to be slower. Osseointegration is caused by slowing down the healing process and the implant integrates and fuses into your jawbone.

Poor Dental Maintenance

Good oral hygiene before and after a dental implant does cause an impact on the rate of success for the implant.

Inexperienced Doctor

Not all doctors are created equal. You may be referred to a preferred doctor by your dentist, but you do have the ultimate option to select whatever provider you would like to go to.

 

Are You Interested In Learning More?

Schedule your consultation with us today with our doctors, Dr. Bill Akin, Dr. Will Akin, and Dr. Brian West, in our periodontal office in Brentwood, TN, to start your journey to a brighter, healthier smile!