Dental Implant Failure & Salvage – Midwest City, OK
Maintain Your Complete Smile
Compared to dentures or bridges, dental implants are very successful. Their long-term success rate even stands above 95%! Still, these prosthetic teeth can and do fail early at times. Various factors are known to interfere with their continued function. If you face a failed dental implant in Midwest City, though, don’t despair – see us for a salvage treatment! With this procedure, we’ll preserve your full smile and ensure it recovers. Just keep reading to learn more about it, or call our office for details.
Why Do Dental Implants Fail?
While implants can fail for various reasons, some causes are more common than others. You’d do well to remember these latter ones when considering salvage work.
Most cases of implant failure stem from peri-implantitis – a site-specific gum infection. As a bacterial condition, it inflames the connective tissues and bones around an implant. The issue can thus loosen your prosthetic tooth by eroding crucial supports.
Aside from peri-implantitis, other known causes of implant failure include:
- Physical trauma (i.e., a fall, sports injury, etc.)
- Failed implant fusion (i.e., the implant and jawbone don’t bond properly)
- Medical conditions that weaken the immune system (i.e., cancer, diabetes, etc.)
Symptoms of Failed Dental Implants
Ultimately, implant failure isn’t limited to a certain timeframe; it could happen at any moment. For example, the restoration could fail in the healing period post-placement. It could also occur years or even decades after treatment. Given this vast range of time, you’ll need to stay vigilant.
Fortunately, the symptoms of failed dental implants are easy to spot. The most common of these are:
- Intense Pain – After implant placement, any discomfort you feel should be mild and fade in a few days. If it persists or worsens, though, visit us immediately.
- Implant Looseness – Functioning properly, an implant is as secure as other teeth. Something has gone wrong if it starts to feel loose.
- Difficulty Chewing – An implant ought to help you eat, so struggling to chew with it is a red flag.
How Dental Implant Salvage Works
If you even suspect a problem with your implant(s), come visit us quickly. Our office can perform salvage work and restore your smile. How that works, though, will depend on your situation. Dr. Kendrick will need to know why your implant failed before proceeding. From there, he’ll suggest possible treatments.
For instance, maybe your implant failed from peri-implantitis. If so, our team may not need to remove it. They can perform other procedures instead – gum cleaning, root scaling and planing, or similar options. However, note that you might require a bone graft to build up the implant’s supporting tissue.
Should your implant fail from facial trauma or improper fusion, we’ll need to remove it. That’s the best way to make sure the treatment site heals. Once it’s gone, we can discuss whether you should get a new dental implant.