As a private dentist, we are proud to offer the latest and greatest in dentistry, whether general, restorative or cosmetic. One of our star treatments has to be dental implants, simply because they don’t just restore your tooth, but can restore your quality of life, too.

In this post, our dentists go through ways to treat loose dental implants, as well as the warning signs you need to know about when something might be wrong.

What are dental implants?

Before we address warning signs and treatment, it’s important to know what dental implants are. They’re a kind of false tooth that, as the name suggests, are implanted into your mouth to look and act like your natural tooth. They can be used to replace one tooth or multiple missing teeth, and are made from a titanium ‘root’ and a porcelain ‘crown’. 

What kind of problems can occur?

As with any treatment, there’s a chance of risks, side effects and even failure. However, less than 10% of cases fail.  Still, we like to inform our patients about dental implant treatment in full. Here are some problems that can result in loose dental implants:

– Infection – this can set in with any type of surgery, even though this type of procedure is minimally-invasive.
– Movement – if there’s instability around the site, the implant may seem loose or wobbly. The root must have adequate healing time, so it can fuse properly to the jaw bone and provide a strong foundation for the new tooth. 
– Bone loss and gum disease – can affect the success of the implant
– Allergic reaction – titanium metal, used in the root part of the implant, is considered highly safe as less than 1% of the population is thought to be allergic to it.
– Healing problems – these can occur if you don’t keep to a good oral health routine, and from other factors such as smoking. Sometimes, existing medical conditions can play a role too, such as diabetes, which slows the body’s healing response.

Other, more rare scenarios can occur, generally due to your dentist’s lack in experience (such as injury around the site). This is simply not the case at a reputable and well-established practice, such as ourselves.

How do I know if there’s a problem?

You may experience pain or difficulty chewing, or notice your gums receding or becoming inflamed and swollen. You may also feel, or see, that the implant is loose.

How can Blossom help?

Not only do we have fully-qualified dentists carrying out the procedure (called ‘implantologists’), but we also offer a 5-year guarantee on our dental implants – all you need to do is attend regular hygiene sessions and follow our maintenance programme. 

If problems do set in, we may recommend an alternative treatment (such as dental bridge or dentures), or there might be a case for bone grafting (taking bone from elsewhere to ‘stitch’ to your jaw bone). If gum disease is the problem, this will need to be treated before any other procedure takes place. Whatever the treatment, we’ll discuss this with you fully.

Book in with us today

If you want to book a dental implant consultation with our private dentists, simply get in touch today via our contact page. Based in York, our friendly team will be delighted to help restore your smile.