Top 7 Major Causes of Dental Implant Failure

As I alluded in my previous blog, “What Is Implant Success “, an implant begins a battle against failure from the moment the patient walks into a dental office for their initial consultation. The short and long-term success of dental implant treatment hinges on proper knowledge and experience by the dental provider of:

1. Medical or dental problem or medications,
2. Bone and Soft tissue Physiology,
3. Prosthetic Choices,
4. Treatment Planning,
5. Mechanical Principles,
6. Advanced Surgical principles,
7. Poor Home Hygiene by the patient.

Should the treatment provider not be totally aware of the risks involved with the patient’s medical, dental problems or medications, the battle is already lost. More than one in four implants (>25%) fail in unrecognized, medically compromised, patients. I will cover this subject in greater detail in my next blog.

For an implant to be successful; it must first integrate with the bone without an intervening soft tissue layer, a process called (Osseointegration during the initial four to six months after placement, but not all bone is the same; and bone constantly undergoes remodeling where old or damaged bone tissue is removed and new bone tissue is formed. It is critical that the treatment provider understand Bone and Soft tissue physiology; another upcoming blog.

If all you own is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. There are numerous Prosthetic Choices supported by several implants; not everything is attached by a nail.

Without a basic understanding of Medical or Dental Problems or Medications, Bone and Soft tissue Physiology, adequate radiographs and awareness of the various Prosthetic Choices, the treatment provider cannot accurately provide a workable Treatment Plan for the patient. Even doing nothing is a treatment choice.

Understanding rudimentary Mechanical Principles allows the treatment provider to design a patient friendly, long-lasting, aesthetically acceptable, functioning prosthesis for the patient; another upcoming blog

The simple removal of a tooth does not qualify the treatment provider to remove wisdom teeth atraumatically, let alone place an implant. If the person removing a wisdom tooth or placing an implant who not does not understand how to handle the complications, are putting the patient in serious jeopardy. There are a number of atraumatic Advanced Surgical Principles which must be known and used to reduce unnecessary postoperative problems for the Poor Home hygiene by patient.

Finally, the patient must be aware of their responsibilities. A dental implant has little chance of success if the patient chooses to smoke, vape, drink heavily and or not provide adequate home care for their implants.

It’s not enough just to have “Dental Implants” painted on your dental office front door. Your regulatory bodies, your patients and their lawyers are now demanding more.

I look forward to hearing from all of you. Each of the 7 Major Causes of Dental Implant Failure will be covered more deeply in upcoming blogs ... And don’t forget to pass this on to anyone interested in dental implants.

Thank you, Dr. Harold Bergman, DDS, Dipl.OS&A, MScD(Path)