Four Reasons For Dental Implant Failure

Despite excellent success rates, it is still possible for implants to fail

At the Clock Tower Dental Clinic, we have successfully placed dental implants for a number of years now. Providing that the procedure is performed expertly and that sufficient aftercare is given, your implants should give you 20 years or more of excellent service as replacement teeth.

This outcome is not a given though, and dental implants can, and do, fail under certain circumstances. In today’s Epsom dental practice blog, we look at some of these situations.

Poor initial placement

Your dental implant placement always starts with a conversation between dentist and patient. This will then be followed up by scans to make sure that there is sufficient bone to place the implants into, and to determine their exact positioning. This is what our Epsom implant dentists do for every patient that we see. Unfortunately, we have heard of some cases where people have cut corners and travelled abroad for cheap and less well-regulated treatment. This can have disastrous results, as we shall see.

Poor quality implants

In addition to often being unable to determine the skill levels of most dentists abroad; if the implants offered are much cheaper than in the UK, there is every chance that cheaper and inferior materials are being used. As the osseointegration (bone bonding) period requires high-quality, precision titanium implants to be used, a cheaper material may well mean that the implant will not bond with the bone correctly and may well fail.

Smoking and drinking

When you decide to have dental implants, you will be told that you need to stop smoking and drinking any significant quantity of alcohol for a period of time either side of the procedure. This is because healing will be restricted if you don’t, and gum disease more likely. If you fail to heed these instructions, the risk of your implant failing altogether will increase significantly.

Poor oral health care

Even after the implant process is complete and your crown has been attached to the implant, you still need to take care of your new replacement tooth. Although the tooth itself can’t decay, your gums can still become compromised. If you neglect your gum health, you may suffer from periodontitis or peri-implantitis which threaten the supporting bone structure. Without this remaining in good health, your implants could fail.

Providing that you have your dental implants placed by one of our experienced implant dentists, and look after it well, with support from the dentist and hygienist at The Clock Tower Dental Clinic, your new implant could well give you a minimum of twenty years trouble free service. To find out more about dental implant placement at our Epsom practice, please call us on 01372 720136.