What You Need to Know About Peri-implant Disease
Dental implants are now a mainstream practice in the space of dentistry. Similar to other branch of medicine, dental implant have witnessed many advances and achievements. However, many of us are still unaware that successful implants too are vulnerable to oral diseases which may eventually lead to implant failure and many other implant diseases.
What Are Peri-implant Diseases?
Peri-implant diseases are defined as oral inflammatory conditions which impact the health of both soft and hard gum tissues surrounding the dental implant, says the AAP.
Yeah, implants don’t get cavities, but like a natural tooth, they can witness a build-up of harmful bacteria near their base. And as time passes, the bacteria start affecting the gum tissues by causing inflammation. If you fail to identify the implant disease in its early stage, chances are it can damage bones and soft tissues below the gum line.
Types of Peri-implant Diseases
Peri-implant diseases can be mainly divided into two categories:
1)Peri-implant mucositis and 2) Peri-implantitis
Like gingivitis, Peri-implant mucositis impact the gum tissues only and latter one, much similar to periodontitis, causes bone loss too.
Peri-implant mucositis only affects the soft tissue near the implant base and is typically considered as a predecessor to Peri-implantitis condition. Research says that Peri-implant mucositis can be treated with medications and cured completely, but Peri-implantitis mostly demand surgical treatment.
Signs & Prevention
You will be surprised to learn that about 505 of implant patients witness Peri-implant disease. Early symptoms of this implant disease are much similar to those of gum disease. Some of the most common signs are gum bleeding while teeth brushing, red or soft gums near the implant, and receding gums.
If you have been diagnosed for diabetes, have a habit of smoking and diagnosed for any periodontal (or gum) disease, this can also lead to Peri-implant disease. To avoid implant disease, you will need to ensure regular cleaning (using brush, floss or oral rinse solution) to your implants. Daily two times cleaning of the teeth and gums will help lower risk of Peri-implant disease.
Implants need consistent monitoring too. Thus, it is wise to visit a local professional periodontics in New York for routine check-ups at a regular time intervals. While implants can function exactly like your natural tooth, they can also become a victim of disease like a real tooth. And thus, implants also require routine cleaning and check-ups. Given proper attention and the, you can benefit of a dental implant for a lifetime without seeing suffering any implant disease.
Don’t ignore the tenderness or change of color/texture in gum tissues, mainly when they are observed surrounding the implant base. Bleeding and plaque, if not treated in the early stage, can build risk of Peri-implant disease. Peri-implantitis eats up the bone supporting the implant base; this bone loss process initially doesn’t cause any pain so many patients fail to understand the severity of the disease.
In order to prevent Peri-implantitis, make sure you don’t overlook signs of Peri-implant mucositis that include gum swelling, redness, tenderness and gum bleeding. Hope these insight will keep your implant disease at bay!
Apart from using above-mentioned treatments, you can also use periodontal disease treatment products. These products are really very useful when it comes to minimizing gum irritation and bleeding as well as reducing plaque buildup.
