Dental implants are a truly remarkable technology, but they’re not for everyone. There are many reasons why dental implants won’t work for some candidates, but a remarkable case study shows that in some cases, great care can lead to success where all factors predict failure.

Many Dental Implant Risk Factors

The case study focuses on the restoration of 51-year-old patient’s teeth with dental implant-supported dentures. The patient had suffered a motorcycle accident and had many conditions that increased his risk of dental implant failure, such as:

  • Chronic gum disease leading to bone loss
  • Diabetes
  • Previous illnesses such as herpes and hepatitis

In many cases, this patient might be told that he was not a good candidate for dental implants. However, his dentists decided to go forward with the case, but do it carefully.

Care Choice 1: Provisional Implants

In this case, the implant dentists were concerned about the risk fo dental implant failure. To give dental implants more time to heal they placed both permanent and provisional implants at the same time. The provisional implants supported temporary restoration dentures in the upper and lower arch while the permanent implants were given nearly six months to heal, which allowed them to fully integrate into the jawbone before they were called on to support the denture.

Care Choice 2: Extensive Oral Hygiene

With the high risk of this case, it was more crucial than ever that the patient be committed to a thorough oral hygiene routine. With a prior history of periodontal disease, bone loss near the implant sites, and ongoing diabetes, the treatment would not work if the patient wasn’t committed to performing detailed oral hygiene.

In this case, oral hygiene included detailed care with special brushes, floss threaders, and and oral irrigator (water jet). More frequent dental cleanings were scheduled, and at every appointment the state of the dental implants and dentures were assessed.

Positive Results

Because of the care choices taken both in the procedure and following it, this high-risk patient had his dental implants for 12 years at the time of the study, and they were all still tightly affixed in the bone and the dentures were performing well.

This goes to show that as long as you are properly committed to your treatment plan, and you work with skilled dentists, no one is beyond hope when it comes to dental implants.

To learn how you can benefit from dental implants, please contact Rice Dentistry in Irvine, California.