Dental Practice Newsletters...

Dental Practice Newsletters Dental implants are presented to patients as perfect or near perfect replacements with their missing teeth. Rarely are they informed with the risks and counseled on the failure rates. The procedures can have serious consequences and is not perfect. Implants can and do fail. Patients need to be thoroughly accustomed to the risks and understand that dental implants can fail. With proper planning, implant placement is very predictable, safe and creates a functional and esthetic result for patients.

Tooth implants have come a long since their inception within the 1950's. Dental implant technologies are changing in an incredibly fast rate. As each new technologies are adapted, dental implant success usually improves. Occasionally a technology comes into the marketplace that is mostly great marketing and only doesn't not enhance the success or actually hinders it. Fortunately that does not happen very often. dental newsletters So what makes tooth implants fail ? There are a number of factors that lead to an increased risk of dental implant failure. Unfortunately a number of the risks are not avoidable which is why dental implants are about 90-95% successful based on various studies (the number is actually closer to 95%). As with long bone fractures, even with the best approximation of the fracture and great immobility, some fractures simply aren't healed if the cast is taken away. Either a non-union occurs (meaning no healing ever really started) or perhaps a fibrous union occurs (where as opposed to bone backward and forward sides of the fracture you have scar tissue). Depending on the type where the fracture is and also the patient, non-unions and fibrous unions occur about 5% of the time. That is similar to the failure rate of dental implants.

The same principles of healing from your fracture are congruent with all the healing of the implant.

You need good approximation with the bone for the implant surface and a period of immobility to have a successful osseointegration with the implant. Osseointegration means the bone accepted the implant and incorporates itself around the implant. As you have seen, the failure rate of implants is similar to the rate of fractures not healing properly. You may get failure of the bone to osseointegrate (similar to non-unions) and instead of bone around an implant you get a fibrous encapsulation (like the fibrous union in bone fractures).

However certain problems that increase the risk 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 lead to an increased likelihood of implant failure. People who have these disorders and/or on these medications should bring the theifs to the attention of these implant surgeon so a treatment plan may be tailored to match their needs in addition to their medical conditions.

There are many factors that will lead to a rise in dental implant failure. Implants can fail in early stages in the healing phase or late. Early failures could be defined as whenever before osseointegration occurs (healing phase) or at the time the crown is affixed to the implant. Late failure is understood to be any time following the implant with the tooth is under function.