Almost everyone is a good candidate for dental implants. Even people who have some risk factors, such as taking certain medications, can still get dental implants. You just have to understand that you may not have the same chances of having a successful procedure.
So what about anemia? Is anemia a serious threat to dental implants?
How Anemia Can Affect Dental Implants
The potential risk of anemia is that it may affect your body’s ability to heal and maintain bone around the dental implant. If the body can’t build or maintain the bone around dental implants, the implant will fail. How serious this risk is depends on the type of anemia you have.
The most common type of anemia is vitamin deficiency anemia. In this type of anemia, your body isn’t able to maintain adequate levels of iron in the blood.
If you have this type of anemia, you may experience delayed healing and may have more swelling and pain than other dental implant patients. You may also have more risk of infection. And your bone density should be evaluated carefully because you are at risk for osteoporosis.
Sickle cell anemia is caused by the production of inefficient red blood cells that have a sickle shape, rather than a round one. As with vitamin deficiency anemia, you may have problems healing bone, and you may have lower levels of bone to begin with.
Aplastic anemia occurs when your body stops making enough red blood cells. This is a relatively rare form of the disease, and the risks are different. Because you might have developed this anemia recently, you are less likely to have low bone density to begin with, but you’re still likely to have difficulty with bone healing and maintenance.
Anemia Treatment Can Reduce Risks
As with many other conditions that impact dental implants, managing your health can reduce your risks. Vitamin deficiency anemia can often be successfully managed to improve bone healing, making you a good candidate for dental implants. If you have adequate bone to support them.
Managing sickle cell anemia is harder, but it’s possible. Your doctor should evaluate your anemia before getting implants.
Aplastic anemia may not be a major barrier to treatment. Some case studies show good success. However, radiation therapy is often part of the treatment process for aplastic anemia. Radiation therapy can increase your risk for complications like osteonecrosis of the jaw, so it’s important to take that into account.
Are You a Candidate?
All of this discussion is theoretical. When it comes to a health condition like anemia, candidacy must be evaluated on a case by case basis.
Even if you’ve previously been told you’re not a candidate for dental implants, you should get evaluated periodically to learn about new developments in the field. Please call today for an appointment with an Orange County implant dentist at Rice Dentistry in Irvine.
