What are the Qualities of a Good Dental Implant Candidate?

You might want to get dental implants if you suffer from tooth loss. After all, these restorations have a whopping 95% success rate! That said, you should get an idea of whether you’d qualify for implants first. You wouldn’t want to book a visit only to learn treatment isn’t ideal, right? Fortunately enough, your local dentist can help you along. Read on to learn four qualities that make someone an ideal dental implant candidate.

Healthy Gum Tissue

If you want to have successful implants, you’ll need healthy gums. The restorations, you see, are more vulnerable to gum inflammation than natural teeth. As such, infected periodontal tissue can detach from an implant and create pockets of harmful bacteria.

At the same time, gum disease can harm your implants’ ability to stay anchored to your jaw.

Proper Jawbone Density

As said above, implants must anchor to your jaw to stay in place. If they’re not placed in time, you’ll suffer tooth loss until your jawbone can’t support implants. In other words, then, your jaw needs sufficient bone density to handle the prosthetics.

Still, there is a workaround should your jaw not have enough bone. In that case, your dental surgeon can perform some bone grafts. Placing bone tissue from a different body part into your jawbone enables your jaw to handle implants.

No Bad Oral Habits

Once your implants are placed, they’ll need time to fuse properly with your jaw. Therefore, good candidates would avoid bad oral habits that would put this fusion at risk.

Consider alcoholic drinks, for instance. Having these after placement could lead to dry mouth, stopping blood from clotting and thus ruining recovery. Excess alcohol can cause bone loss, making implants hard to place.

Similarly, smoking could also lead to implant failure. The habit raises your risk of gum disease, so it often conflicts with placement. Furthermore, it can keep your implants from fusing with the jawbone.

No (or Few) Chronic Diseases

Patients with chronic diseases have a higher risk of implant failure.

In the case of diabetics, the success rate is only 93-94% compared to the usual 95-98%. This fact is likely due to how diabetes contributes to gum disease and problems with implant fusion.

Similar risks apply to other chronic conditions too. For one thing, heart disease and sleep apnea interfere with the treatment’s anesthesia. Teeth grinding, or bruxism, can also delay or halt post-procedure healing.

In the end, it’s best to be a good dental implant candidate before getting treatment. Since that’s the case, keep the qualities above in mind as you consider your options.

About the Practice

Martinez Dentistry is based in Indianapolis, IN. As led by the titular Dr. Corey Martinez, our office aims to give patients the best possible dental care. To that end, we perform preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, as well as emergency procedures. We’re thus ready to help you with nearly any smile need, whether it’s a simple checkup or even dental implants! For more information or to book a visit, you can reach us on our website or by phone at (765)-724-7729.