Dental Implant Failure & Salvage – Alhambra, CA
Restore Your Strong & Healthy Smile
Once in place a dental implant will look, feel, and function just like a natural tooth. However, what does it mean if yours begins to hurt or feel loose? These are classic signs of dental implant failure. Even though dental implants boast an impressive success rate of 95% even 10 years after placement, failure is still a remote possibility. Fortunately, we may be able to help restore your strong and healthy smile with dental implant salvage in Alhambra! Read on to learn more about dental implant failure and how we can help.
Why Do Dental Implants Fail?
Fortunately, there are not many things that can cause a dental implant to fail. The most common cause of dental implant failure is a condition known as peri-implantitis. This is an infection in the gums that can destroy the tissues that help hold your dental implant (and your natural teeth) in place. Although this may sound alarming, peri-implantitis is easy to keep at bay. To keep your gums healthy and infection-free, you should brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day, floss daily, and rinse with an ADA-Approved mouthwash. You should also quit tobacco use and visit us every six months to lower your risk of dental implant failure as much as possible.
Symptoms of a Failed Dental Implant
A dental implant can fail within a few weeks of its placement surgery or many years afterwards, so it’s important to know what symptoms to look out for. The most common warning signs of a failing dental implant include:
- Pain around the dental implant, especially when biting down
- Swollen, puffy, bright red gums that bleed easily
- A wobbly or loose feeling in your dental implant
- Difficulty chewing and biting
- Gum recession around the dental implant
If you begin to experience any of the above symptoms or are worried about your dental implant for any other reason, please call us immediately.
How Dental Implant Salvage Works
If your dental implant begins to fail, we may be able to restabilize it with dental implant salvage. How this treatment will work will vary on your condition. First, we’ll want to see you right away so we can examine your mouth and hear more about your symptoms. From there, we’ll be able to walk you through your treatment options. This could include things such as a deep dental cleaning, antibiotic therapy, or other infection treatments. However, if the implant or the surrounding tissue is damaged, we may need to remove the implant to fully treat the underlying issue. Once we’ve restored your smile, perhaps through a bone graft, gum disease treatment, or other procedure, you may be able to receive a new dental implant.