Lifespan of Dental Implants Q&A

Dental implants are considered dental surgery which is a procedure that replaces the tooth’s roots with metal screws called posts and is input to replace teeth that may be damaged or missing, and dental implants are input as a way to be functional and cosmetically nice-looking much like real teeth.

Dental implants are an alternative to other surgeries like bridgework or dentures which do not fit well but offer an option when there is a lack of natural teeth available that can be built on those other procedures needed.

Dental implant surgery is considered outpatient surgery, meaning it is done in a clinic, and you can go home after to heal between procedures. The process in which dental implants are done includes multiple steps:

• Tooth removal of any damaged teeth
• Prep the jawbone if needed
• Implant for dental placement
• Let the bone grow and heal
• Abutment placement
• Placement of the artificial tooth

Dental implants are not a one-and-done type of surgical treatment, it can take many months to complete this treatment. Most of the time what is needed for dental implants is for letting the jawbone grow and heal.

While dental implants are considered a permanent solution to missing, broken, or damaged teeth, it does not mean you will never need replacements done during your lifetime. “Permanent” for dental implants refers to implants that are secured into the patient’s jawbone, meaning you do not remove them each night as you do with dentures.

A few different factors that would go into the deciding factor of how many years dentures would end up lasting would be:

• Care Routine

The patient will need to care for their implants well, including routine daily oral care. This is critical as it will determine how much life you get from your dental implants.

• Dentist skill

Dental professionals like ours at Great Smiles Family Dentistry install dental implants and also play a crucial role in how long dental implants last, as the experience, the knowledge to fully evaluate the patient’s health of their jawbone, and whether the patient can fully absorb them before placing the crown.

• Lifestyle choice

Self-care is important for the entire body, as it will determine your health and how many years you can enjoy your dental implants.

Normally, on average you can see around 25 years from your dental implants with proper care, lifestyle choices, and your dentist’s skill that you went to.

There are many factors that can affect the lifespan of your dental implants including:

• Nutrition

Nutrition provides the opportunity to allow patients with dental implants to eat a much wider variety of healthier foods in their everyday diet that they may not have been able to eat previously due to damaged teeth or missing teeth.

Nutrition is extremely important, eating healthy allows the jawbone, and dental implants to last much longer.

• Oral hygiene

Good oral hygiene is important as it helps to keep the dental implants healthy and to last longer as they are free of destructive bacteria and plaque that can cause issues.

• Overall health and lifestyle

Dental implants must rely on healthy gums to stay put and basically survive, if gum disease were to take over, it would negatively impact the gums and jawbone that are supporting the dental implants.

• Genetics

Gum disease that runs in family genetics is more prone to see issues if they have dental implants. It is best to take extra care to reduce any issues and see a longer lifespan of dental implants.

• Regular dental care

Dentists, as well as dental hygienists, are able to provide the lifespan of dental implants.

Dental implants are an investment, and with proper care, they can last up to 25 years or longer. The best thing you can do to see a long healthy lifespan of your dental implants is by taking care of yourself, as well as the dental implants from day one.

If you want to know more about dental implants, visit Great Smiles Family Dentistry or call us for more information. We serve patients from Toledo OH, Oregon OH, Ottawa Hills OH, Perrysburg OH, Woodhurst OH, Sylvania OH, and Shoreland OH.