subject: The Leading Causes Of Failure For Dental Implants [print this page] Tooth implants are special devices installed on the 'awbones' of people looking to get restorative teeth, in order to serve as the 'roots' for such restorative teeth. By restorative teeth, we mean those 'artificial' teeth that people sometimes have installed on their mouths, to take the place of some of their teeth that they may lose for one reason or another. The general idea behind the installation of such restorative teeth is usually to improve the quality of the people on whose mouths they are installed. This comes about by making it possible for them to chew properly (incidentally, incomplete chewing can cause problems further down in the digestive system); while also taking away the aesthetic disadvantage that tooth loss often causes.
The dental-implants which, as mentioned earlier act as 'roots' to restorative teeth, are usually made from a material (mainly titanium) that has been observed to integrate completely with the body, so that with time, the body doesn't treat them as foreign objects. At the fruition of this integration process, the dental-implants come to be 'seen' by the body as being a part of it, so that they receive resources from the body, through which they 'pass life' to the restorative teeth that they serve as roots to.
Now the installation of tooth implants, prior to the loading of the restorative teeth is a rather delicate process. It is also one that is characterized by considerable failure rates. Having a dental implant failure is, of course, the prosthodontist's worst nightmare. This is especially so, keeping in mind that the procedures involved in making up for the failure often turn out to be even more involving than the procedures involved in installing the dental-implants in the first place.
Incidentally, it is worth pointing out what constitutes tooth implant failure. For one, if a dental implant is lost (so that the restorative tooth can't be installed on it), then clearly, it is a failure. If the dental implant shows some motion (so that it is not firmly fixed in place to serve as a root for the restorative tooth), then it too, would be termed as being a failure. And while some bone loss is to be expected in the area around the tooth implant, if that bone loss is too great, then the implant would be termed as a failure.
So, what causes the failure of dental implants?
Well, the first and apparently leading cause of tooth implant failure is smoking. Through a complex chain of reactions, the chemicals that make up cigarette smoke tend to mess with dental implants in a great way. In fact, some dentists can be rather hesitant in installing dental-implants to people who are actively smoking.
Improper placement of the dental implants can also cause them to fail, especially where the failure manifests as mobility of the implants. This is the second leading cause of dental implant failure.
Poor oral hygiene might also cause dental-implants to failure, as it often leads to the development of a 'dental-carries like' condition known as peri-implantitis.
Pre-existent medical conditions, such as diabetes, prior to implant installation or during their life, can also cause the failure of dental implants.
