Possible Complications

The risks are rather small but still worth knowing

The complications of any surgical procedure can include excessive bleeding, an unexpected reaction to the anaesthetic. In addition to the usual risks of a surgical procedure, implantation can cause infection of the gums or bone and can damage the roots of neighboring teeth.

Your lower jaw contains nerves, which supply feeling to your tongue, chin, lower lip and lower teeth. In a small percentage of cases during implant surgery in the lower jaw the nerves may be bruised and may cause a tingling or numb feeling in your tongue, chin or lip. This is usually temporary, but in a small number of cases this altered sensation may be permanent. Skilled and well equipped dentists rarely encounter these complications, but you face significant risks in the hands of an inexperienced practitioner.

The biggest risk of this procedure is probably the loosening of the implant. What can happen is that the implant may not fit well into the socket drilled in the bone or it may fail to bond with the bone. Infection after surgery may destroy the surrounding bone or there may be too little bone to withstand the stress of chewing.

It the jawbone does not fuse with the implant properly and the implant becomes loose, your dentist will need to remove the failed implant and wait until the bone has healed before attempting to place another implant.

While implants will not constantly remind you that you are wearing false teeth, you cannot completely forget about them. The gum does not hug the artificial tooth as tightly as it hugs a natural healthy tooth, so the chance of a local inflammation is greater than normal. You need to clean implants more carefully than you would a natural tooth. You might also need to see your dentist more often than the usual twice a year for checkups and cleanings.

Implants may not be an option for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes or osteoporosis. This is because the implants are more likely to fail due to problems with the healing process.

The crowns, bridges and dentures your implants support can be damaged just like normal teeth, due to an accident, break or chip but crowns, bridges or dentures are generally easily replaced, providing the implant underneath is not damaged.