Normal Bone Loss Around Dental Implants

Bone loss around dental implants is considered an undesirable because an implant relies on fusion to the surrounding bone in order to perform its function.

Having said that, immediately after having an implant place, in the first year at least there will be 1 mm of bone loss. In the subsequent years, studies show that there will be a further 1 mm of bone loss every five years. This is equivalent to 3 threads on the implant.

However, it has been shown that patients who have the newer smaller diameter type of dental implants suffer less immediate post-operative bone loss and less bone loss subsequently.

Normal bone loss around dental implants can be minimised. It has been shown that a patient who is a smoker or as an underlying health problems such as diabetes, will suffer from the greater bone loss around dental implants. In addition, if the patient has any periodontal disease elsewhere in this mouth or he lost his teeth primarily due to periodontal disease, then he or she will suffer more the normal amount of bone loss over a period of time.

The oral hygiene around implants is also critical and it has been shown that
inadequate or poor oral hygiene around implant results in more than normal bone loss. There is a condition called dental peri-implantitis which develops and which results in increasingly amount of bone loss around dental implants.

When you have an implant placed, it is important to have a x-ray once a year for that for at least the first five years and then after that time, you can have a x-ray approximately every two years thereafter.

One of the reasons for the x-rays is to identify any bone loss and to compare with the previous x-rays.