For patients considering the possibility of replacing teeth with dental implants in any way it is very important to understand that risks are involved in surgical and restorative dental procedures regardless of who or when they are carried out.
It is wrong for any healthcare professional to explain to an individual that a process is entirely risk free and it is not about elimination of risks but more about mitigation of risks and reducing risks as much as possible.
Some common risks that exist associated with the possibility of surgical implant placements are as follows:
- Pain, swelling and bruising after treatment.
- Possible infection following treatment which needs to be managed both before the procedure and afterwards.
- The risk of possible implant failure (see below).
- More serious risks including damage to crucial structures, bleeding or complications requiring hospitalisation.
Risks in dental implant treatments of severe complications are extremely low but need to be managed very carefully by experienced individuals using correct preoperative planning and imaging. To do this carefully is a combination of skill, experience, and technology. These cannot be substituted.
One of the most common discussions in implant dentistry about complications is the risk of dental implant failure. Generally implants are very successful procedures and when provided by experienced individuals long-term survival and success rates of dental implants themselves can be in the mid to high 90% range.
To achieve this over time requires careful execution of implant treatment and it’s important for patients to understand that implants are not guaranteed to be successful or to survive.
Generally, if an implant does not succeed and has to be removed it is an uneventful procedure but of course the implant is no longer present!
A discussion with your provider to ensure that you’re aware of the level of success they achieve and over which time scale and how many implants that they have placed is a very important discussion before implant treatment is started.
Restorative complication
The implant itself is a titanium screw which is placed in the bone in order to hold a crown or restoration in place, surgical complications can apply to the implant itself, but restorative complications can also apply.
Implants are not a ‘fit and forget’ restoration. It is very important to understand that maintenance of dental implant restorations must be carried out regularly by an experienced Clinical team in order to reduce the chance of long-term complications.
As for natural teeth, keeping dental implants clean and well maintained is absolutely essential to secure a long life.
Some complications which can occur for restorative procedures are:
- Loosening of screws which connect them to implants
- Fracture of materials including porcelain or acrylic
- Loosening
These can generally be relatively easily corrected by the treating clinician or the clinical team.
It is because of these issues above that it is very important to discuss at the start of your treatment what the guarantees are for the treatment provided and how these would be executed should there be a problem.
Questions that we would suggest all of our patients to ask us before implant treatment is carried out are below:
- How many implants has the Clinician and the Practice placed and over what time scale?
- What is the percentage success rate and survival rate of the implants over time?
- Which implant system does the Practice use and is it credible and well-engineered?
- What is the guarantee for the treatment provided and how does that work if a problem occurs?
- What is the maintenance required for the restoration that I will be having?
For further information about the risks associated with implant treatment please contact us here.
