Houston dental implants generally have over a 90% success rate, however, there are things that can adversely affect this success rate.
The #1 cause of implant failure is SMOKING. Nicotine causes a reduction in oxygen flow to the bone. It does not matter if the nicotine is supplied by inhaling the smoke, chewing on tobacco, using a patch or chewing gum. The dental implants require oxygen to bond to the bone. When the bone is unable to bond to the implant due to lack of oxygen, discomfort usually results and the implants must be removed.
Certain medications also affect the bone’s ability to bond to the dental implant. Most drugs used for chemotherapy to treat cancer, kill growing bone cells resulting in the failure of the implant. Methotrexate, a drug for the treatment of arthritis also can cause dental implant failure.
Adverse stresses on an implant can also cause the implant to fail. Dental implants are made of titanium which is a bioactive metal capable of tricking the body into believing that the implant is a tooth. Because of this the bone bonds to the implant as though it were the root of a tooth. When the implant moves after it is placed, the body recognizes it as a foreign object and rejects it.
In order for an implant to be successful, it is important that there be enough bone for the implant. If there is insufficient bone the implant might move. If the implant penetrates the bone into tissue there is a higher possiblity of discomfort or failure. If there is a question as to the amount of bone available, a CT scan can determine if there is enough bone before the actual surgery takes place.
If the teeth have been missing for a long period of time, it is possible that the amount of blood flow to the bone may be at a reduced level. The placement of an implant may be more than the blood supply can handle. If this occurs the implant may fail. Often after the implant failure, the body grows new blood vessels in the area to heal the site and when an implant is placed again 3 to 6 months later, there is now sufficient blood volume for the implants to succeed.
Occasionally, even when everything else has been done right, the demon Bad Luck steps in and causes the implant to fail. This doesn’t happen very often, but can be very frustrating when it does happen. Even when Bad Luck rears its ugly head, implants can still be successful down the road.
Actual Titanium allergies are very rare, but could be a potential problem. This must be tested and verified by a certified allergist before making the assumption that problems are related to a titanim allergy because it is so uncommon that you would not want to miss the real culprit if titanium was present, but not actually causing the problem.