I have lost supportive bone tissue can I have dental implants

Q. I have previously been told that I have loose supportive tissue. Would this be a problem with implants? I have lost a few back teeth. I am 47.

 

A. The tissue around teeth can be divided into attached (bound to the underlying bone) and non-attached (loose). The more attached, presents the easier the formation of healthy gum around the neck of the implant. If you have only a small amount of attached gum then implants are still possible but may require a gum graft to increase the attached gum. All said and done it is extremely likely that you are an implant candidate provided there is enough bone under the gum and that you are relatively fit and well.

Dr Julian Caplan BDS
Director on the board of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry

Aviva Cosmetic Dentistry
www.avivacosmeticdentistry.co.uk
101 St. Peters Street,
St. Albans, Hertfordshire.
AL1 3EN

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Tags: gum, implants

This post was published on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 4:59 pmand is filed under Dr Caplan's Answers, Experts Answers, Q. Dental Implants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “I have lost supportive bone tissue can I have dental implants”

1. jen Says:
   June 26th, 2008 at 10:31 pm

   Many years ago I lost my upper rt 4 and 6 teeth. Upper rt 5 had had a couple of unsuccessful apesectomies but until recently anchored a bridge. Upper 1 and 2 are post crowns and upper three achored a bridge over missing 4 to no 5. Upper 5 started to produce an abscess which kept appearing on my gum and bursting and as a result of this I decided I would have an assessment for implant(s). On further x-raying my mouth it was found that upper 1 and 2 had shadows which in the future could prsent problems and in fact upper 2 failed and has just this week had to be removed resulting in my now wearing a temporary denture. Upper 5 was removed in January. I have consulted with an implant surgeon and he is suggesting the removal of remaining 1 and 3 (although 3 is a perfecting healthy tooth) and inserting three implants to carry a bridge. When 5 was removed and now 3 I noted that the sockets have not been packed with synthetic bone (I have been advised that I do not require bone grafts.) Will these cavities not having this packing in any way minimise the effectiveness of my implants and would you have an opinion on removing 3 which is a healthy tooth. Appartently the removal of three will provide for a better aesthetic look as it is felt that two implants side by side results in loss of papilla. Any reassurance would be great!

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