Straight Teeth in Less Time
How Can You Tell If Something Is Wrong With Your New Dental Implant?
Lois Murray
Having a dental implant placed in your jaw doesn't really hurt. Of course, your mouth is completely numbed for the process, so all you'll feel during the procedure is some pressure when the dentist firmly inserts the small metal implant into the guide hole in your jaw. As the anesthetic wears off, the implant site will be slightly uncomfortable, but all in all, the process is pretty mild. However, the later development of pain can suggest that your implant needs to be checked by your dentist.
Bone Healing
Your dentist will give you a pretty exhaustive list of instructions and advice for your new implant. Remember the implant is integrating with your jaw, and the bone is literally healing around the implant. You need to be cautious with what you eat, avoiding foods that can place excessive strain on your implant (primarily foods that are too hard or chewy). You also must maintain a very high level of oral hygiene to prevent the possibility of infection around the implant, and it's going to be somewhat vulnerable as it heals.
Serious Infections
In fact, if the implant site becomes seriously infected, the connection between the implant and your jaw bone can be lost. Unsurprisingly, a bacterial infection can take a toll on the infection site and may disrupt healing. Instead of healing around the implant (in a process called osseointegration) some bone loss may be experienced. With bone loss, the implant has no ability to support a permanent prosthetic tooth and the bite force that the tooth will experience. As such, the implant is deemed to be a failure and must be removed. It's possible to place an implant again at a later stage, but only after sufficient healing time.
Mild Infections
Implant failure is preceded by a more mild infection, and this is what you must be on the lookout for. An earlier, more mild infection can often be reversed, thus allowing osseointegration to succeed and preserving your implant. So what should you be looking for?
- Pain around the implant site that worsens instead of subsiding as the site heals.
- Visible swelling and inflammation in your gums where the implant was placed.
- Bleeding from the implant site, possibly accompanied by pus.
Quick intervention is needed, and your dentist will need to perform a debridement of the implant to remove the bacteria that have colonized it and are now infecting your oral tissues and jaw. Antibiotics may be prescribed in some cases.
If the implant site appears to be infected, please don't wait and see if your gums will get better by themselves. You need treatment as soon as possible; otherwise, your dental implant may be lost.
Contact a dentist for more information about dental implants.
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I had braces when I was a kid. Back then, you had to wear those metal wires and rubber bands for what seemed like forever. When I saw that my child’s teeth were going to be crooked like mine, I was dreading the years of braces and orthodontist appointments and limited diets that I saw stretching ahead of us. I was pleased to find out that braces today are very different from braces when I was a kid. They don’t need to be worn for nearly as long, and they aren’t as intrusive, either. My daughter got braces that can barely be seen, and she can remove them when she eats, so she doesn’t have to give up her favorite foods. I was so impressed that I started a blog to talk about modern day tooth straightening techniques. Braces have come a long way.