Are Dental Implant Failures Treatable?

A perfect smile undoubtedly requires proper dental hygiene. It's no wonder that our parents were always warning us to only brush the teeth we wanted to keep. However, when it comes to tooth decay and paradentosis, we can't always blame ourselves.

For all of the unfortunate souls out there struggling to fight genetics, dental implants can be a reasonable solution. Still, the path towards a radiant smile might not be so smooth. There is a slim chance that a dental implant could fail, however, there's something we can do if we detect the problem right away.

This article will hopefully serve as an insight into how to notice a dental implants failure and what to do about it.

Why Teeth Replacement Implants Are a Good Choice

First things first, what's the main thing to know about teeth implants? The bottom line is, they are an advanced way of replacing our missing teeth. After being surgically inserted into our jawbone, a dental implant fuses with the bone over time. This way, it perfectly serves its function to take over as the tooth root.

The main idea behind this is that the implants feel like our own teeth. Unlike dentures, which can feel uncomfortable whenever we take them out, these teeth replacements will feel and function much more naturally. Plus, we won't have to take any special care of them. While this procedure sounds like a perfect long-term solution, our bodies may still struggle to accept it.

What Are the Dental Implant Failure Causes?

If our healing process seems too long and painful, we might just be out of luck. There are a few reasons implant failures happen:

• Poor oral hygiene. As we've already mentioned, tooth implants don't require special care. Still, we shouldn't avoid brushing them just because they aren't susceptible to tooth cavities. Improper hygiene can result in gum inflammation, which might be difficult to treat.

• Foreign body rejection. The body may simply decide to reject these foreign objects. The rejection happens shortly after the procedure, before the bone manages to heal. Our immune system detects a strange body and aims to destroy it. As a result, we can end up dealing with swelling and inflammation. You can check out this dentist in Greenville or one near you for more information on this.
  

• Post-op trauma. In case we lose patience during the healing process, we might not be careful with our implants. One traumatic bite can cause a dental implant failure. For this reason, we need to pay special attention to how we bite and chew, even after the bone has finished healing.

How to Notice the Tooth Implant Rejection

The first step toward a successful treatment is always noticing and acknowledging the problem. For this reason, we must detect the signs of dental implant rejection as early as possible. Depending on what we're dealing with, we'll have to opt for a different dental implant failure treatment.

Below, we offer some of the most common rejection symptoms.

Pain

Naturally, the healing process takes time. Because of that, pain can be a normal occurrence in the first couple of days after the procedure. However, we must detect suspicious pain to be able to act on it before it's too late. Oftentimes, we will experience prolonged discomfort when our replacement teeth should already have fused with the bone. What's more, this type of pain is more throbbing than the regular healing pain. 

Wobbly Implants

Because tooth implants are deliberately made of titanium, our body shouldn't recognize them as foreign objects. Nevertheless, an implant can begin to feel loose as we might be experiencing wobbling of some sort. In that case, we need to consult our dentist. Implants being loose isn’t a part of the healing process and it can lead to further damage.

Inflamed Gums

Swollen gums are a common occurrence after a tooth replacement surgery. Still, in case the swelling persists too long, we might be facing a problem. To avoid it spreading further, we'll need to treat such an infection as soon as possible.

What Can We Do About a Failed Implant?

In case we've detected the symptoms of an implant failure, we should immediately notify our implant dentist. After that, our treatment can go in one of the two possible directions:

• The implant can be saved. In case we've managed to detect the failure in its early stages, we might be in luck. Pain, swelling, and inflammation could only be the result of a bacterial infection. Hopefully, our dentist will be able to treat it with antibiotics. If not, they can also opt for removing the infected tissue surgically.

• The implant has to be replaced. In case we've waited too long, the dentist might not be able to save our implant. The good news is, they can still replace it with a new one. Naturally, they will first have to take out our failed implant. After that, it will take some time until the area around it heals. Hopefully, we'll end up right where we started but with more success this time.

Final Remarks

While we might feel uneasy about replacing our missing teeth, implants can help change our mind. Provided that everything goes well, we won't feel uncomfortable once we get these replacements as they mimic our natural teeth perfectly.

Still, a few things can go wrong in the process. First, poor dental hygiene can lead to inflammation. Second, our body may decide to reject the implants, which can result in an infection. Third, our impatience or carelessness during the healing process can lead to injury, causing the implants to fail. 

To understand what's going on, we'll need to look for dental implant failure symptoms such as pain, wobbly implants, or inflamed gums. Once we've detected these signs, our dentist can try to save our implants either with antibiotics or surgery. In case we fail to act during the early stages of healing, our dentist may have to replace our failed implant with a new one. But we won’t have to worry about any of that if we watch out for red flags right from the start. Our implants will hopefully have us smiling broadly in the end.