The reasons for dental implant failure and complications

Dental implant failure is not as common today as it was years ago. Actually success rates today are pretty impressive – 98 % to be precise!!

Dental implant failure is related mostly to problems of the dental implants not osseointegrating with the bone – or in everyday English: The dental implants do not biologically bond properly to the jaw bone as expected.

The inability to osseointegrate properly and as a result cause dental implant problems might be affected by:

• Dental implant infection – This can be caused by an infection that was introduced during the dental implant surgery or the crown restoration. Poor oral hygiene caused by the patient's bad habits can cause infections as well.
In both cases, the infection causes inflammation of the bone in the area surrounding the implant, that will eventually cause bone loss. Infection is the #1 cause for dental implant rejection.

• Patient's physical condition / general health – Patients in better physical condition enjoy higher success rates, than patients suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure or any other health condition that might impair bone growth. Bone growth is affected by poor blood supply to the bone and specifically to the site where the implant is placed.

• Insufficient bone mass - If an implant is placed in an area in the jaw bone where the bone volume is too small the implant might not bond to the bone properly. Early detection of this possible scenario will lead to a bone graft performed during the dental implant surgery and consequently will lower the chances of dental implants complications.

• Immediate loading – Some dentists like to load the implants immediately after placing them (they build the crown on top of the implant immediately after placing them in the jaw bone). In doing so, the forces on the tooth might disturb the osseointegration process and cause dental implant rejection. This is a rare scenario because dentists usually don't load the implants immediately, and if they do, they make sure that there is no pressure applied to the implant tooth.

• Smoking - Risk of failure is increased significantly with smoking patients. It is most likely that your dentist will urge you to stop smoking before starting the dental implant procedure (that is -if you are a smoker, of course).

These are some of the reasons for implant failure. If you do fall within the 2 % failure rate and an implant fails, it is removed and if conditions are right, the site is prepared for another immediate dental implant placement. If the site is not ready for an immediate implant replacement, the dentist will let the area heal for a few months until conditions exist for a second try.

So if you're in good general health and don't smoke – your chances for a successful treatment are very good and you have no reason to think about dental implant failure.

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