Month: July 2019

They’re the closest thing you can get to real teeth. And when properly placed, they look almost indistinguishable from natural teeth. But it can’t be all good, right? There have to be some risks associated with having dental implants placed alongside natural teeth. Turns out, there aren’t many risks. But there are some. Here’s what you should know about dental implants and how they can impact the other teeth in your mouth.

The Risk of Disease

Whether you have a mouth full of dental implants or all are natural teeth, you run about the same risk of gum disease, and ultimately jawbone infections, if you don’t stay true to a daily dental health routine. Simple brushing and flossing go a long way in ensuring you keep your dental implants for a long time.

However, if you don’t clean your teeth, tongue and gums daily, you run the risk of developing a bacterial infection at the implant site. During the months your dental implants are healing, the implant site is at an elevated risk of bacterial infections. So, you’ll need to clean regularly, follow through on appointments at your dentist’s office and contact your dentist if you notice any issues developing.

The Risk of Nerve Damage

No one is perfect, but some people are considerably better at some things than others are. The same holds true for dentists. So while nerve damage is certainly a risk of having dental implants placed, it’s a much lower risk if you have your implants placed by a dentist who has gained experience in doing so.

Nerve damage stemming from a mistake in the extraction of a tooth or the placement of an implant can impact other teeth. But the reason this problem is uncommon is because of technology and the maturation of the dental implants sector of the dental industry. Dentists backed by the latest in digital imaging and modeling technologies are given unrivaled guidance on exactly where to place each dental implant.

The Best Way to Make Low Risks Even Lower

Contact a local dentist about dental implants in Vancouver, BC. Getting to know a dentist and learning more about their experience placing dental implants can help you minimize the risk of issues with your dental implants.

 

It doesn’t take much effort for the imagination to conjure the worst when trying to envision a procedure that entails drills, titanium bolts and your jawbone. But as painful as it may seem, you probably won’t feel any pain when you have your dental implants placed.

Local Anesthesia

For most dental implant patients, local anesthesia will be all that’s needed to get through the implant placement part of the procedure.

A simple needle prick to the implant site and you won’t feel any discomfort until well after the procedure has been wrapped up. And by then, you should have some over-the-counter pain pills handy to help you get through the next day or so.

If the sticking point for you is needles, and not the procedure itself, talk to your dentist about oral options for pain relief and sedation. An oral option may require that you spend a little more time at your appointment, but it can help you avoid needles.

General Anesthesia

If you need more than one implant, your dentist may offer you the option to have general anesthesia. General anesthesia typically won’t be required, even when placing eight dental implants for implant-supported dentures. You can get through the entire placement with just local anesthesia and you won’t feel much, if any discomfort.

The bar is a bit higher for qualifying for general anesthesia, as your current health and medical history will play a larger role in helping your dentist, and possibly your primary care physician, decide if general anesthesia is safe for you.

If it’s just a fear of not being able to comfortably sit through the procedure, talk to your dentist about your sedation options. Along with local anesthesia, an additional sedative can help you relax and sit still without putting you to sleep.

Get More Answers

Click here to schedule a consultation with a local dentist to find out more about getting dental implants in Vancouver, BC.