The Critical Role of Gum Health: How Gum Disease Affects Dental Implants

At Carolina Crossroads Dental Care, we understand that missing teeth can take a significant toll on your quality of life, changing your appearance, making it difficult to enjoy all of your favorite foods, and even impacting your speech. Thankfully, modern dentistry offers a variety of tooth-replacement treatment options to restore your smile, whether you're missing one, two, most, or all of your teeth. 

For many patients, dental implants and implant-supported dental restorations are the most desirable treatment option for restoring the smile's form and function. To be a candidate for dental implants, however, patients must have generally good oral health because periodontal disease (gum disease) can have a negative impact on dental implant treatment outcomes. 

To help you learn more about the effect that periodontal disease can have on dental implants, you must first understand how dental implants work. 

What Are Dental Implants?

A dental implant is a restorative dental prosthetic that is used to replace missing teeth. Dental implants consist of three basic parts:

• Implant Anchor - A dental implant anchor is placed directly in a patient's jawbone. This screw-like device is typically made of biocompatible metal, and it is designed to mimic the root system of a natural tooth. An implant anchor becomes fused to the jawbone through a healing and bone-generation process called osseointegration. 
• Implant Abutment - Also made of biocompatible metal, an implant abutment connects to the anchor and is designed to support a permanent restoration. 
• Permanent Restoration - The permanent restoration is the only visible portion of a dental implant. These are usually made of tooth-colored porcelain, which is highly durable and also achieves a natural look with a similar appearance to tooth enamel.

Dental implants have quickly become the most popular option for replacing missing teeth because they offer the most benefits and advantages to patients, such as:

• Secure and Comfortable Fit - Dental implants work and feel just like natural teeth, which makes them comfortable and secure. Patients usually forget they even have dental prosthetics. 
• Natural Look - Implant-supported dental restorations look just like natural teeth. 
• Supports Better Oral Health - Dental implants help maintain the health and strength of the jawbone, safeguarding neighboring teeth and preventing them from shifting out of alignment. 
• Versatile Treatment Option - Dental implants can be used to replace one, several, most, or all of a patient's missing teeth with treatments like implant-supported dental crowns, implant-supported dental bridges, and implant-supported dentures (also referred to as "All-on-4 dental implants" or "full-mouth dental implants"). 

Despite their many benefits, dental implants are not the right treatment for every patient. For example, patients with existing periodontal disease might not be candidates for treatment with dental implants. 

How Does Periodontal Disease Affect Dental Implants?

Gum disease is a bacterial infection of the gum tissues. The inflammation that it causes has several unpleasant side effects, and when it is left untreated or unmanaged, it can cause significant degeneration that leads to weakened periodontal ligaments, tooth loss, and jawbone degeneration. 

Gum disease is considered a contraindication for treatment with dental implants due to the oral infection's impact on healing and its ability to degenerate the jawbone around a dental implant anchor. Patients who have gum disease are less likely to experience successful treatment outcomes with dental implants for these reasons. 

‍How to Care for Your Oral Health When You Already Have Dental Implants

Patients who have dental implants must take good care of their teeth in order to prevent gum disease from developing, as developing periodontal disease after treatment with dental implants could compromise the integrity of your dental restoration and lead to the loosening and loss of a dental implant. 

We recommend that patients brush and floss their teeth, as they usually do:

• Brushing twice a day for at least two minutes
• Flossing at least once a day

Additionally, we find that patients enjoy more thorough cleaning by using an electric toothbrush and a water flosser. Water flossers are especially effective at flushing debris, plaque, and harmful bacteria from around your dental implants and implant-supported dental restorations. 

In addition to practicing good oral hygiene at home, patients should continue visiting the dentist every six months (or as often as recommended by our dentist) for routine examinations and professional dental cleanings. 

Find Out If Dental Implants by Carolina Crossroads Are Right for You: Request a Consultation Today!

To determine if you are a good candidate for dental implants, our dentist will perform a thorough oral examination and patient consultation, along with taking diagnostic images. This will help us assess the patient's general health and their oral health. If any signs of periodontal disease are present, we will first work with the patient to resolve those issues with comprehensive treatment to ensure that gum disease is well-controlled before beginning the dental implant procedure. 

If you are a good candidate for dental implants, but you are worried about how affordable dental implants are, we encourage you to talk with our office team about your insurance coverage and our many payment plans, financing options, and Miles of Smiles Savings Plan discounts. Our goal is to make high-quality dental care accessible to everyone, and we can work with you to ensure your smile restoration treatment plan fits into your budget and lifestyle. 

To learn more or begin the treatment process, we welcome you to contact our office and request a consultation for dental implants in Statesville with Dr. Spears today. 

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