Saturday, May 30, 2009

Who is a suitable candidate for dental implants?



Not all patients are good candidate for dental implants. You must consult with your dentist and see if you are suitable for this treatment procedure or not. You will surely not want to undergo a procedure that is not suitable and suffer from complications.

Ideally, a person who has healthy gums and enough bones on the jaw is suitable to undergo this procedure of dental implant. The dental implant or the artificial teeth is placed at the jawbone and this is why a person must have strong jawbones to be able to undergo this procedure of treatment.

Mostly dental implant is used for replacing a missing tooth.

Teeth loss can happen due to many reasons, but this does not mean that this condition cannot be corrected. It may be that a person is experiencing missing teeth because his teeth had to be extracted due to excess decay. Teeth loss can also occur due to accident and old age besides following unhealthy dental habits.

Good candidates:
  • good health
  • healthy gums
  • enough bone to anchor the dental implant in the jaw
  • commitment to daily brush and floss the implanted teeth and surrounding gums
  • commitment to make regular visits to the dentist
Problematic candidates
  • young patients whose jawbones have not fully developed
  • pregnant women
  • heavy smokers
  • alcohol or substance abusers
  • patients receiving high-dose irradiation of their head or neck
  • people with chronic diseases or systemic problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, connective-tissue diseases, hemophilia and significant immune deficiencies.
  • patients taking steroids or drugs that suppress the immune system
  • people who severely grind or clench their teeth
*** Smoking retards healing and reduces the chance of implant success.

Dental implant is a device that is specially designed to be placed at the jawbone to aid and provide a support for the growth of teeth, bridge or crown.

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