Dental Implants: Are They Safe and Precautions You Must Take before Having Them
Dental implants are popular because they are reliable, and their safety is undisputed. Studies reveal over 98 percent of dental implants function well even after a decade. However, dental implants can fail on rare occasions. The risks are minimized by the dentist near you by taking precautions at every step of the dental implant process.
If you plan to replace missing teeth with dental implants, you have chosen an excellent solution to have natural-looking artificial teeth in your mouth. However, before you go ahead with the treatment, you must ensure you adhere to the precautions advised by the dentist nearby to ensure the success of the dental implant procedure.
What Precautions Must You Take before the Deadline Procedure?
The long-term success of implant placement surgery begins with careful planning before the process. Dental implants Encinitas, CA, thoroughly examine your teeth and jaws using digital x-rays or CT scanning to get a comprehensive view of the precise location of the nerves, sinus cavities, and other anatomical structures of the mouth. The dentist also requests your entire medical history because the data helps them develop an accurate guide for use during implant surgery.
The Encinitas dentist also assesses the quality of the bone at the intended implant site. Dental implants need adequate support from the jawbone because, without it, the implant cannot withstand the biting forces of regular chewing. You may require bone grafting or sinus lift in cases where jawbone resorption has occurred because of tooth loss.
The surgical procedure impacts the future reliability of the implant. Therefore, dentists follow the surgical guide developed during the planning stage precisely to ensure the chances of successful treatment. Unfortunately, there may be unseen variables such as pre-existing or post-operative infections that interfere with the integration of the implant with your jawbone. Therefore, dentists will monitor the healing process to detect if osseointegration or integration with your jawbone and the titanium implant has occurred. If osseointegration has failed, the dentist removes the implant, cleans the area, and replaces the implant with an alternative.
Implant failure can also occur later if you allow gum disease to affect your teeth. Gum disease is primarily caused by bacterial plaque infecting and inflaming the supporting tissues surrounding the teeth. In such cases, gum disease eventually and the implant and weaken the surrounding bone in a condition called Peri-implantitis needing aggressive treatment including plaque and infected tissue removed besides surgery to repair the integration of the implant with the bone. Left untreated, the implant may eventually detach from the weakened bone.
Before getting dental implants, the dentist in Encinitas, CA, advises you to quit smoking if you are a smoker before the surgery to maximize success with osseointegration and the long-term success of the placement. In addition, dental implants can fail if you have uncontrolled diabetes because it interferes with healing. Similarly, you must also ensure you are not affected by periodontal disease due to improper oral hygiene. Therefore you must adhere to your dentist’s instructions if you wish to have dental implants in your mouth as replacements for your natural teeth.
What Happens After You Get Dental Implants?
After getting dental implants must minimize the risk of post-operative infections. Your dentist prescribes antibiotics to reduce the risk of problems significantly. Unfortunately, on rare occasions, infections can develop a need for urgent intervention to save the implant, or the condition can result in implant failure. Therefore you must continue following your dentist’s instructions by doing everything possible to prevent infections from developing in your mouth. You can help your dentist by following the instructions and having soft foods, using a chlorhexidine mouthwash after surgery, and taking any medications prescribed as suggested. In addition, you must avoid having alcohol or smoking and maintain excellent oral hygiene. A sterile surgical process coupled with an immaculate home minimizes your risks of post-operative infections.
Delayed infections can also occur months or years later, especially if you are a smoker or take bisphosphonates drugs. As a result, you might lose bony support around the titanium post, similar to natural teeth affected by gum disease. Fortunately, the skill of your dentist and meticulous homecare offer implants minimize the risks of these conditions. However, if your natural teeth expected to last for a lifetime can fail, so can dental implants unless you strike a delicate balance between your dentist’s instructions and proper oral hygiene to retain your replacement teeth for life.
If you want more information on the safety and precautions before getting dental implants, please schedule an appointment with Steve B Horne, DDS, — Encinitas, CA, for the information and get your dental implants from them.