Why Your Dental Implants Could Fail

One potential problem with having a dental implant surgically installed is that there is a risk of the procedure failing. There is an 8% risk of upper jaw implants failing, and 5% risk of lower jaw implants failing. While this percentage is very low, dental implant failure can still happen to you for the following reasons.

Bacteria In The Jawbone

There is a possibility that bacteria in your jawbone caused the implant to eventually fail. Since a dental implant is an invasive procedure, it could cause bacteria that is present to essentially attack the surrounding tissue around the implant. Since this tissue is weak from the procedure, it makes it more susceptible to disease and infections that are preexisting at the time of the surgical procedure.

The good news is that this does not affect all dental implants at the same time. You may have dental implants that are perfectly fine afterward, especially ones installed in opposite jawbones. Even implants installed in the same jawbone might survive if there is no bacteria around it.

Dental Implant Contamination

The titanium used for a dental implant is pure, and will not cause any allergic reactions in patients that have them surgically installed. There is always a chance though that the dental implant gets contaminated at some point during manufacturing or surgery.

Even though manufacturers have FDA quality control standards they must follow, there is always a risk of the implant becoming contaminated. If this happens, patients will have irritation, bleeding, and discomfort after the procedure is performed.

Poor Implant Placement

Everyone's jawbone is different, and there is not a single way to install a dental implant. If you have a very small jawbone, it will require that your surgeon is very precise with how the implant is placed. An implant that is incorrectly set can be rejected by the body.

Neglecting Aftercare

While all the previous explanations for your dental implant failing are out of your control, the implant could fail due to poor aftercare. Your surgeon will provide you with detailed instructions for how to care for your new dental implant. Not following these instructions could lead to a potential infection that causes your body to reject the implant.

Unfortunately, infections can sometimes happen even when you follow all aftercare directions, but it happens in a relatively low percentage of patients.

Even if your implant does fail, it does not mean that you are out of luck when having a dental implant installed. Once the cause of failure has been identified, and the jawbone has healed, you can attempt to have the dental implant installed again.