What causes implant failure?
No medical procedure has a 100% chance of success. (Have you ever seen that awful show “Botched”, which reveals less than perfect results of plastic surgery.)
Implants have a 5% chance of failure even without the risk factors below. However, the literature shows that re-doing an implant for a second time, has an 85% chance of success. In my own practice that figure has been closer to 100%.
Not all implants merge with your jaw despite taking accurate measurements. Short-term elements that can drive dental implant failure include:
- Poor blood supply to the implant area
- Existing infections in the mouth
- Moving of the implant during the recovery
- Not providing implants sufficient time to merge with the bone
- Poor fitness of the patient
- Bacterial infections
- Extreme stress on implants
- Grinding and clenching teeth
- Shortage of bone
- Deficiency of gum tissue
- Poor oral hygiene
- Radiation to the head and neck
- Too much food impacted in between implants
- Diabetes
- Gum disease
- Insufficient jawbone
- Inconsistent oral hygiene practices
- Location in mouth
- Medications (Some for acid reflux)
- Pre Existing medical conditions, including cancer
- Smoking
The surgery requires an experienced and trained dentist who will first know your conditions and take precautions throughout the placement process. Implant dentistry is not a recognized specialty of dentistry, like orthodontics (braces) or endodontists (root canals); they can be placed by general dentists, oral surgeons or periodontists.