Am I Healthy Enough For a Dental Implant?

Missing teeth can have a number of serious consequences to your oral health as well as your overall wellbeing. Dental implants are an excellent solution for treating this situation in many cases. Even so, not everyone is a good candidate for dental implants. To be considered a good candidate, you need to meet certain health requirements.

Why Do You Need to Be in Good Health for Dental Implants?

Certain health standards are required to be considered a candidate for dental implants due to the fact that the procedure to place dental implants is a surgical procedure. The implants are embedded below the gum tissues directly into the jawbone. General anesthesia is required for this procedure.

Who Is a Candidate for Dental Implants?

While you do not necessarily need to be in excellent health, you do need to have stable health. Certain conditions can cause complications related to the implant procedure or even cause your implants to fail. Such conditions include:

• High blood pressure
• Autoimmune disorders
• Type 2 diabetes
• Arthritis

There is also concern regarding any other condition that causes chronic inflammation. Additionally, if you have periodontal disease, you may not be considered eligible for dental implants. This is because patients with advanced gum disease often have a reduced density in the jawbone. Since dental implants are placed in the jawbone, this can naturally present complications, including the high risk of implant failure.

Additionally, you need to be able to handle general anesthesia reasonably well. You will need to tell your dentist if you’ve ever undergone general anesthesia and whether you experienced any complications. Finally, you need to either be a non-smoker or you need to be willing to quit smoking. In addition to the fact that smoking makes healing from any kind of surgical procedure more difficult, smoking also contributes to teeth grinding. Therefore, if you are considering dental implants and you are a smoker, you need to make a commitment to quitting permanently.

Dental implants are a great solution to missing teeth. To take advantage of those benefits; however, you need to be a good surgical candidate. If you still have questions about dental implants and your possible candidacy for implants, please do not hesitate to contact us regarding your questions.