Dental Implants Are Completely Safe For All Good Candidates
Are dental implants safe? The answer is “yes.” This procedure has been used successfully in dentistry for more than 30 years, and is regarded to be extremely safe.
For the majority of patients who are in good health, there is almost no risk of any major complications or problems with the dental implant procedure.
However, it is important that you are in good dental health before you get dental implants. If you have serious periodontal (gum) disease, for example, you will not qualify for implants until you are able to get the proper treatment to manage and halt the progression of your gum disease.
Just how safe and effective are dental implants? One study found that between 90-95% of implants were still in perfect condition 10 years after placement, and other studies suggest that the success rate is between 95-98% over a period of up to 40-50 years.
Complications From Dental Implants Are Very Rare
Dental implants are very safe, particularly when placed by expert implant dentists like Dr. Munther. However, there are still some complications that can occur in some circumstances, and that you should know about.
The most common complication is “peri-implantitis.” This is an infection of the gum tissue near the implant. It can occur due to improper cleaning of the implant site during the procedure, or if the patient does not clean and care for their implant properly after their surgery.
Because of this, working with an experienced dentist for an implant and following your recovery instructions after surgery will almost completely eliminate the risk of this complication.
More rarely, the implant may fail to attach to the bone properly. This is more common in patients who have a weakened jaw bone, so this issue can be avoided with proper pre-implant planning and surgeries, such as bone grafting to strengthen the jaw.
Another complication is implant rejection. Also called “foreign body rejection,” this complication is very rare and happens when you have an immune system reaction or allergic reaction to the implant.