During the course of your lifetime, the health of your teeth may come into question. If things become serious, you may need large scale dental surgery to remedy the problem. Dental implants can be one of those remedies. However, you should be aware and prepare for any potential problems arising from the procedure.
Outlined below are potential concerns to consider before, during, and after dental implant treatment:
During surgery
Dental implants are most commonly used in conjunction with prosthetic teeth. Made from material such as titanium, the dental implant forms a bond to the bone. This process is called osseointergration. Such a process often comes with many complications. Before getting such a procedure, you should defiantly research the possible arising problems.
During surgery, you carry much of the same risk as you would with a normal surgery. When surgery goes wrong, it can lead to infections, necrosis, and loose tissue around the implant.
The main aim of surgery is to ensure osseointergration, if the surgeon has difficulty placing the implant into bone; the process is much more likely to fail.
Post-surgery
After surgery, dentists will look at your primary implant stability. This indicates how well your implant has integrated into your mouth. The primary stability will slowly decrease as bone tissue grows around the implant, however, this is to be expected, with the implant superseding into a secondary stability.
Infection will be an initial risk as well, as while the antibiotics taken before surgery will help increase your chances of osseointergration, they will not help in preventing infection from occurring.
Other possible symptoms could be bleeding in the mouth, and loose tissue around the implant.
For the most part, your problems, if any, with dental implants at this stage will likely be due to the skill of the surgeon. However maintaining good dental hygiene is a must, and heavy smokers are at a greater risk for the operation failing.
Note that integration failure is generally quite a rare occurrence, and is often down to the patient's lifestyle choices and general health.
Long-term complications
Dental implants can possess a number of cosmetic complications. For example the dental implant may not fully recreate the form of the original teeth, thus making it look out of place. People may be disappointed aesthetically with the procedure.
Loss of bone around the implant also presents an issue. The bone tissue loss can happen for a number of reasons, a common cause being smoking.
Another potential issue that is not aesthetically related is peri-implantitis. Peri-implantitis is a process in which bacteria can penetrate the cavities in-between the original tissue and the implant, which can cause problems for osseointergration.
So while dental implants can be of tremendous boon to those that need it, people should be aware of the associated risks, and the fact that there is not a wealth of information or research into the topic. To learn more, contact a company like Dr David Young & Associates Dental Surgeons with any questions you have.
Share19 June 2015
Miranda Raff here. My brother is a stressed-out dental student, so I'm starting this blog on his behalf. I work in a travel agency and my brother is mortified by the number of dental tourism stories I bring home. I book short holidays for people who seem as though they are going to enjoy some relaxation in an exotic country, only to learn that they plan to have cheap dental procedures. Whilst there are good dentists in developing countries, according to my brother, the complex procedures these people plan to have simply can't be finished in such a limited time. This blog is an attempt to inform you about the high skill levels and advanced technology found in Australian dental surgeries. New techniques are being developed every year and Australian dentists are at the forefront of offering these solutions. I really hope this blog helps you to appreciate our dentists.
