Dental Implant Complications
The longevity of your dental implants relies on maintaining healthy gum tissue around the implants.
Unfortunately, a small number of patients experience complications due to bacteria-causing inflammation or bleeding around the implant that requires immediate treatment. This complication is known as peri-implantitis or peri-implant disease.
Signs and symptoms of dental implant complications include:
- Pain or mobility of the implant when chewing
- Poor esthetic result, damage to adjacent teeth
- Bleeding, pus, drainage, foul odor or bad taste around an implant
- Fractured screws, crown, unretentive dentures
- Pain or numbness in the gum, lip or jaw around an implant
Successful dental implants maintain their connection to the jawbone along the entire surface for the life of the implant.
When bone loss occurs, it can jeopardize the implant and adjacent teeth. We can often use procedures to regenerate bone lost around teeth and to close “pockets.” A process known as bone regeneration may be used to treat failing implants. Gingival grafting may be required to treat failing or esthetically unappealing implants.
Even if you don’t experience any real “symptoms,” you should seek professional care immediately if your implant feels loose or wobbles or the gum around your implant bleeds.
LAPIP® LASER TREATMENT FOR IMPLANT COMPLICATIONS
A modification of the LANAP® procedure called LAPIP® (Laser Assisted Peri-Implantitis Procedure) uses the PerioLase® MVP-7™ laser technology and can be used for minimally invasive surgical treatment of infections around implants to save them.
LAPIP removes the infection and helps to regrow bone without harming healthy tissue. This innovative procedure offers an exciting and promising option for patients because maintaining and even healing ailing implants reduces the need for more invasive surgeries, and in the worst-case scenario, implant replacement.
The entire process can be done in a single appointment. Plus, like with LANAP®, patients experience significantly shorter recovery time.
If you think you may be suffering from peri-implantitis, please make an appointment today to discuss this innovative treatment option.
