Dental implant remains the best and most popular tooth replacement option that many people choose today. During dental implant procedures, the oral surgeon inserts a dental implant (a small rod mostly titanium) into the gum tissue. After this, the natural healing process occurs, which allows the dental implant to bind with the jaw bone so as to give strong support to the replacement teeth and to prevent malocclusion from happening.
A dental implant is the most durable way to replace missing teeth. It offers a number of benefits over other tooth replacement options, such as dental bridge and denture. This is because a dental implant typically looks, feels and functions more like natural teeth. A dental implant can be used to replace single tooth loss, multiple teeth loss, or all the teeth.
Normally, a dental implant is recommended for people with missing teeth, but who have good oral health and healthy jaw bone. But patients with periodontal disease (gum disease) always have the belief that they cannot undergo dental implant surgery. However, this is far from the truth because patients with periodontal disease can actually undergo dental implant surgery as long as they have sufficient jaw bone and gum mass to support the dental implant.
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What Is Periodontal Disease?
Periodontal disease (gum disease) is the main cause of tooth loss in most adults. Periodontal disease can manifest in various forms, such as simple gum inflammation or a more severe disease that may cause a major damage to the bones that support the teeth and the soft tissue.
Periodontitis, which is inflammation around the tooth, is an advanced form of periodontal disease. If you have periodontitis, you are not alone. About 50 percent of American citizens of age 30 and above have periodontitis – that is about 64.7 million Americans.
When you have periodontitis, your periodontitis gums pull away from your teeth to form infected pockets. This may lead to both bone loss and tooth loss. Although bacterial infection is the major cause of periodontal disease, there are lots of factors that may influence the acuteness of periodontal disease. These factors include genetic susceptibility, certain medications, diabetes, and smoking.
Signs and Symptoms of Periodontal Disease
Various signs and symptoms associated with periodontal disease may include loose teeth, bad taste, bad breath, new large spaces between teeth, painful chewing, bleeding gums, purplish gums, bright red gums, and swollen gums, or and in your mouth, and. See your dental professional if you think you may have periodontitis.
Are you experiencing any of the signs above, don’t hesitate to contact us immediately. We have the necessary treatment for the various form of periodontal disease.
Call to schedule an appointment at 832-430-1406
Dental Implants and Periodontal Disease
The fact that you have a periodontal disease does not mean that you can no longer undergo dental implant surgery. To find out how you can benefit from dental implants with periodontal disease, contact us today to schedule an appointment with us.
Dental Implant Requires Healthy Strong Bone and Gum Mass
For you to undergo dental implant surgery, you must have a healthy and strong jaw bone and gum mass to support the dental implant. However, a patient with a periodontal disease who wish to undergo dental implants needs to first seek periodontal treatment to ensure that their jaw bone and gums are healthy. Once the gum disease has been eradicated or brought under control, you can then proceed to see a dental professional who will find out if your mouth is fit for an implant.
The dental professional will then check the amount of jaw bone, bone tissue, and gum present in your mouth. However, if after the check-up, the dental professional realizes that the jaw bone is not healthy or strong enough for the implant. The dental professional may result to carry out bone graft or gum graft first to make sure that there is sufficient jaw bone available to support the dental implants.
So, if you need to know if you can get a dental implant if you have periodontal disease, YES, you can get a dental implant if you have periodontal disease. And if you had periodontal disease in the past and had undergone periodontal therapy, but now have a healthy and strong jaw bone, teeth and gums, you can as well visit a dental professional for dental evaluation to find out if you would be a good candidate for dental implant surgery.
When Is A Dental Implant Not A Suitable Tooth Replacement Option?
Though a patient with periodontal disease can eventually undergo dental implant surgery, there are cases when dental implants may not be possible. This is when the jaw bone is not strong or sufficiently sturdy to hold the dental implant and bone graft is not possible.
More so, a dental implant is not recommended for patients with uncontrolled diabetes or untreated periodontitis. This is because of the high risk of failure due to poor healing and infections. There are other medical conditions that make dental implants as a tooth replacement option impossible. These include drug abuse, severe systemic illnesses, deficiencies in the immune system, certain bone diseases, and blood clotting disorders, etc. Smoking is also an important factor to consider, this is because smokers do not heal up as fast as non-smokers. As a result of this, there is a high tendency that smokers would experience loose implants. However, if you quit smoking, you would significantly increase the possibility of a successful dental implant.
Call to schedule an appointment at 832-430-1406
Conclusion
If you have lost one or more of your tooth as a result of periodontal disease, undergoing dental implants can help you in restoring your oral health and smile. All you need to do is to first undergo a periodontal treatment to stop bone loss and tooth loss. However, if after the periodontal treatment, your jaw bone or gums are not strong enough to hold the dental implants, your dentist can recommend a bone graft or gum graft to support the implants.
If you feel you’re a good candidate for dental implant surgery, visit us today to share it with us. Our dental professionals would help you to decide if implant surgery is actually the right choice for you.
