How to Keep Your Dental Implant Healthy and Long-Lasting
It’s okay to step away from a “warranty” mindset when you invest in a dental implant. By design, your implant is built to last…
If you care for it!
Dental implant treatment is a durable solution for tooth loss. An implant creates a new tooth root in the gap where you have a missing tooth.
A dental implant also helps preserve your bone and gum tissue health.
Those reasons alone make dental implant maintenance a priority. A healthy implant helps assure that your tooth function, gums, and bone tissue remain effective (and healthy).
The break-in period
Dental implant health maintenance is an ongoing process. The initial healing period following implant placement is essential. Time allows your dental implant to securely adapt to your bone and gum tissue as it heals.
This makes your follow-up appointments vital. We will monitor how your implant is healing and discuss ongoing care details including bite alignment and tissue health.
When it’s important to pay attention
Dental implants are designed to look natural in your mouth. That said, it’s easy to allow them to become just another tooth.
That’s the beauty of implant treatment.
But…
Be careful that an out-of-sight-out-of-mind perspective doesn’t prevent you from protecting your investment. Remember that a dental implant’s structure involves a post, a dental crown, and of course surrounding bone and gum tissue.
Each of these areas, especially the tissue, are vulnerable if ongoing care is lacking.
How to care for your dental implant to assure longterm effectiveness
1. Watch bite force and additional stress
Your dental implant provides proper tooth function alongside your other teeth. It’s possible to forget it’s there while biting or chewing.
Too much force and you could damage the dental crown on the surface.
Teeth grinding or clenching create added stress too. This pressure can begin to erode the bone tissue around your dental implant or cause your crown to break or fracture.
Solutions:
- Use caution when eating foods that can damage your teeth…including your dental implant.
- Treat teeth clenching or grinding with a custom-fitted night-guard. Wearing this appliance during sleep helps prevent damage to your teeth and implant(s).
2. Stay alert and prevent gum disease!
The good news…your dental implant isn’t susceptible to decay or disease. That’s because it’s artificial by design.
What is vulnerable to decay and/or disease is your surrounding tissue. Your bone and gum tissue require proper care and maintenance to avoid infection or inflammation.
An untreated gum infection can worsen into periodontal gum disease. And this can cause problems for your dental implant.
Solutions:
- Observe any signs of swelling, redness, or bleeding in the gum and bone tissue surrounding your dental implant or adjoining teeth.
- Stay current with your routine dental examinations and teeth cleanings.
- Treat any signs of infection or inflammation before it progresses. Periodontal tissue examinations and treatment options can help in advance of developing disease.
Your dental implant will last and provide years of healthy tooth function. It’s essential that you monitor its health as you would your natural teeth, gums, and bone tissue.
Contact your St. Petersburg Cosmetic Dentistry Specialist, Dr. Roberto Macedo, DDS, MS, PhD. about your missing tooth or missing teeth or any problems associated with your dental implant. Schedule your initial consultation to discuss tooth replacement with dental implants and how to maintain your implant treatment.