Common Myths About Dental Implants

Clinical Oral Implants Research is a journal of dentistry that deals with mainly with tooth implants, and it has recently published a very interesting find. Nearly a third of patients waiting for dental implants believed some serious misinformation regarding dental implants. Here are some of the most common bits of confusion.

Dental implants need less care than real teeth

Dental implants are inserted into the oral cavity and thus need at least as much attention and care as regular teeth. Although they do not decay and cannot cause pain and do not get infected, the periodontium surrounding it is still yours, and needs up keep and care. Aside from this, the implantologist needs to look at the dental implants from time to time to make sure that everything is in order, they do not need to be replaced and that they are being loaded properly. This means you will still need to go to your half year check-ups, even if you have dental implants.

Dental implants can be had by anyone, regardless of medical history

Certain medical conditions, like diabetes, haemophilia, osteoporosis and other systemic diseases and bone ailments make it impossible, or extremely undesirable to use dental implants. In many cases, the dentist cannot guarantee the success of the procedure, or placing a dental implant in the given conditions would be in violation of the Hippocratic oath. With the latter, the placement of dental implants would not only be unethical, it would also technically be illegal as well.  

Dental implants carry no risk of complications

Dental implantation is a facet of oral surgery. Like all surgery, oral surgery is invasive, and like all surgery, it carries the risk of possible side effects or complications. These come from the very slight to the quite grave, but can usually be fixed with a correcting procedure, a bit of painkillers or a course of antibiotics. It is important to know what side effects can be expected and how long they should last to be able to spot any irregularities that may occur.

Dental implantation happens while the patient “is under”

It is almost never medically necessary to perform surgery while the patient is under general anaesthesia, or “is under”. The patient is almost always conscious and the dental implants are placed into the jawbone under local anaesthetic. Most dental practices do not have the equipment or the licence necessary to perform anaesthesiology, and do not take on cases where this may be necessary. Such procedures are frequently performed in hopsitals instead.