Imagine taking several weeks off of work, spending loads of energy and finances in getting implants, only to realize they may fail one day! This realization is no less than a nightmare for implant recipients, and understandably so – nobody wants their hard-earned smile (which they want to preserve for decades) to go down the drain like that.
It makes them ask: why do dental implants fail in the first place? Is it a random untraceable mystery or does it happen due to some mistake done by us (or our dentist for that matter)? These are very important questions to ask, as they reflect a responsible and mindful approach on the patient’s part.
Here’s the answer: implant failure isn’t random – there are distinct causes behind it, which, in most cases, are ‘mistakes’ that can be attributed to you or your dentist (and mistakes can be avoided, fortunately!). Let’s learn more about these mistakes in this blog, so you and your dentist may try their best to avoid it and your new smile may last as long as it’s supposed to!
What’s Dental Implant Failure?
Let’s get a basic overview of dental implant failure before we talk about its causes. Dental implant failure refers to the inability (which gradually becomes failure) of the implants to bond with the surrounding jawbone structure. This bonding is essential for implants to gain their footing into the jawbone, which is what makes them capable of supporting prosthetic teeth.
This means that an implant that lacks such connectivity is essentially useless and will sooner or later fall out from the jaw (a condition known as implant loss). Sounds frightening, right? It indeed is, but at the same time, it’s not something to be extremely worried about! Let’s tell you why this is the case.
The Number Talk: How Often Do Implants Fail?
Implant failure, no matter how frightening of a possibility it is, only constitutes 5-10% of all implant cases. This means that 90-95% of implants remain stable throughout their average intended lifespan.
With that being said, we can’t turn a blind eye to the 5-10% of implants that end up experiencing failure. This doesn’t mean we should fear failure. Instead of fearing failure and anticipating the worst (which is what some patients do), a healthier approach would be to get educated on the causes of the failure and the mistakes that could potentially contribute to it.
This would help you avoid the mistakes, allowing you to save yourself from experiencing implant failure altogether.
7 Mistakes That Lead To Implant Failure
Without any further delay, let’s talk about 7 major mistakes that directly or indirectly lead to implant failure. For clarity and ease of comprehension, we are categorizing these mistakes into two types: mistakes made by patients and mistakes made by dentists.
Mistakes Made By Patients
- Mistake # 1: Ignoring Oral Hygiene
Getting implants means you’re freed from the struggles of tooth loss, but it comes with a lot of responsibility – the responsibility to maintain and care for your new teeth. Unfortunately, some patients tend to forget this; they start taking their newfound smile for granted, not realizing that it requires greater care than natural teeth.
When this happens, the implants and the artificial teeth become a breeding ground for plaque and bacteria, which leads to dreadful implant infections (peri-implantitis) and, ultimately, implant failure.
- Mistake # 2: Smoking/Tobacco Consumption
Certain lifestyle habits are extremely detrimental to implant health, and smoking has to be top of the list. In fact, being a nonsmoker is one of the main prerequisites for getting implants and people who smoke are generally not considered for implants.
This is because smoking impedes blood flow to the implants, which delays implant healing and osseointegration. Hence, people who resume smoking after getting implants (no matter if they had quit earlier) increase their vulnerability to implant failure.
- Mistake # 3: Teeth Grinding
Besides smoking, teeth grinding is also a lifestyle habit that seriously threatens implant health.
Although it’s pretty common in the general population (and has a negative effect on natural teeth as well), it can be extremely dangerous for people with implants as it puts undue stress on them.
Hence, people who make the mistake of overlooking their bruxism and don’t take professional treatment for it (getting custom-made night guards, for example) are more likely to experience implant failure than those who do.
- Mistake # 4: Being Careless With Post-op Instructions
Another grave mistake that patients make is ignoring the post-op instructions given by the dentist.
The first few months after implant surgery literally set the pace for how your implants are going to perform for years to come, as it’s the period where the implants heal and blend with the jawbone (for which you must follow post-op instructions religiously).
Any oversight in post-op care, therefore, will have a direct impact on your implant’s foundational stability and the resultant complications may trigger an early failure.
Mistakes Made By Dentists:
- Mistake # 5: Incorrect Bone Assessment
We just talked about how some patients overlook post-op instructions; now, let’s consider an equally disturbing flip side to the situation – imagine a dentist performing an incorrect bone assessment before implant placement (i.e. the dentist assumes the bone density to be sufficient when it’s not).
In this case, the bone would have poor osseointegration, which would lead to implant failure soon.
While certified implant surgeons receive rigorous training in this area and it’s very unlikely for a genuinely trained surgeon to overlook such an important treatment aspect, mistakes still do happen.
- Mistake # 6: Improper Implant Placement
Adding on to the unlikely but possible mistakes made by dentists, a dentist placing implants improperly can also trigger implant failure.
Implant surgery requires an impeccable level of precision and keenness on the part of the surgeon, so even the slightest oversight can cause the implants to be placed differently than intended, which may lead to failure depending on the severity of the difference (and if the difference has any direct consequence on implant stability).
- Mistake # 7: Compromise On Implant Quality
Using cheap/substandard quality implants in the treatments is also a common reason behind implant failure, as implant quality has a direct correlation with its durability/success.
This is because low-quality implants may not have the ideal level of biocompatibility (which promotes healthy and quick osseointegration) and may also corrode over time.
However, this isn’t strictly a ‘mistake’ on the dentist’s part and rather a deliberate decision (as the dentist is the best person to gauge the quality of the implants being used in the treatment), but the responsibility falls on the dentist’s shoulder nevertheless.
Conclusion
Although patients wish to preserve their new smile and dentists have their best interest at heart, they may still make mistakes (mentioned and elaborated above) that could lead to implant failure.
If you’re considering getting implants and wish to have an indirectly efficient experience throughout, schedule a FREE consultation with VA Implant Clinic, a premium dental practice located in Virginia. Our team of implant experts will perform your treatment with utmost precision and care, paving your way to a healthy and beautiful smile!
