Dental Practice Newsletters...

Dental Practice Newsletters Dental implants are given to patients as perfect or near perfect replacements with their missing teeth. Rarely are they informed from the risks and counseled around the failure rates. The procedures might have serious consequences and is not perfect. Implants can and do fail. Patients have to be thoroughly informed about the risks and realize that dental implants can fail. With proper planning, implant placement is extremely predictable, safe and fosters a functional and esthetic result for patients.

Tooth implants have come a long since their inception in the 1950's. Dental implant technology is changing at an incredibly fast rate. As each new technology is adapted, dental implant success usually improves. Occasionally a technology comes into the marketplace that's mostly great marketing and only doesn't not enhance the success or actually hinders it. Fortunately which doesn't happen often. dentist newsletter service So what makes dental implants fail ? There are a variety of factors that lead to an increased chance of dental implant failure. Unfortunately some of the risks usually are not avoidable and that's why teeth implants are about 90-95% successful according to various studies (the quantity is actually better 95%). As with long bone fractures, despite the best approximation from the fracture and great immobility, some fractures simply aren't healed when the cast is removed. Either a non-union occurs (meaning no healing ever really started) or even a fibrous union occurs (where as opposed to bone forwards and backwards sides from the fracture you've got scar tissue). Based on the type and where the fracture is as well as the patient, non-unions and fibrous unions occur about 5% of the time. That is similar to the failure rate of teeth implants.

The same principles of healing from a fracture are congruent with all the healing of an implant. You need good approximation from the bone for the implant surface along with a period of immobility to have a successful osseointegration of the implant. Osseointegration means the bone accepted the implant and incorporates itself across the implant. As you can see, the failure rate of implants is similar to the rate of fractures not healing properly. You will get failure with the bone to osseointegrate (much like non-unions) and rather than bone around an implant you receive a fibrous encapsulation (just like the fibrous union in bone fractures).

However certain conditions that increase the chance of implant failure are poorly controlled diabetes, some bone metabolic and congenital disorders, certain medications like glucocorticoids (prednisone), immunosupressants and bisphosphonate medications (Zometa, Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva, etc.) Additionally, smoking and poor hygienic habits can cause an increased likelihood of implant failure. People with these disorders and/or on these medications should bring the theifs to the attention of their implant surgeon so a treatment plan could be tailored to suit their needs in addition to their medical conditions.

There are more factors that can lead to an increase in dental implant failure. Implants can fail in early stages in the healing phase or late. Early failures could be defined as any time before osseointegration occurs (healing phase) or during the time the crown is affixed towards the implant.

Late failure is understood to be any time after the implant using the tooth is under function.