Dental Implant Failure and Salvage – Flint, MI
Keeping Your Restored Smile Whole
One of the advantages of choosing dental implants to replace your missing teeth is that the procedure is highly reliable. Over 95% of cases are successful in the long term, letting patients enjoy their new smiles to the fullest. However, dental implant failure does sometimes occur, and you need to be aware of why it happens and how to recognize the symptoms so that you can seek treatment as soon as possible when you need it. Get in touch with Dr. Rodriguez today if you have concerns about the health of your implants.
Why Choose Health Smiles Dental Care for Dental Implant Salvage?
- Board-Certified Periodontal Specialist
- Comprehensive In-House Implant Treatments
- Experienced, Passionate Dental Team
Why Do Dental Implants Fail?
Poor oral hygiene can lead to an infection of the gum and bone around the dental implant. This is called peri-implantitis, and when left unchecked it can damage the tissue holding the implant in place. At some point, the mouth may no longer be capable of supporting and retaining the implant, causing it to become loose or fall out altogether.
However, sometimes implants fail because they never form a proper bond with the jaw in the first place. There are a few different reasons why the osseointegration process might not take place as needed, such as a lack of healthy bone in the jaw.
Symptoms of Failed Dental Implants
You’ll usually be able to recognize a failed dental implant through one or more of the following symptoms:
- Unusual or severe pain that goes beyond the soreness that occurs after dental implant surgery.
- An implant that feels loose. (This may be a problem with the post itself, but it could also simply be an issue with the restoration.)
- Bleeding, swelling, and pus around the implant.
- Difficulty chewing.
Failure may happen shortly after you get your dental implants, but it can also occur years later. As such, you should always keep an eye out for the above symptoms; be ready to call us as soon as you think something might be wrong.
How Dental Implant Salvage Works
Step one is to examine your mouth, learn more about your symptoms, and put together a treatment plan based on your needs. It is sometimes possible to save dental implants with a deep cleaning or other conservative infection treatments, but if the implant or the tissue around it has been badly damaged, we’ll need to take the post out to make the necessary repairs. You may be able to receive a new implant once the underlying problem has been taken care of.