Peri-implantitis treatment
For an implant with a gum that bleeds, aches or has pulled back from the crown.
Peri-implantitis is gum disease around a dental implant: bacteria collect under the gum and the bone holding the post starts to be lost. Caught early it can be cleaned out and stopped, but left alone the implant loosens and has to come out.
Any of these sound familiar?
- The gum around an implant bleeds when you brush, or looks red and puffy.
- There is pus, or a bad taste that keeps coming back around one implant crown.
- The gum has shrunk back and you can see metal at the edge of the crown.
- An implant feels different when you bite on it, or has begun to move.
- You have had gum disease before, or you smoke, and the implant has not been checked in a while.
Start to finish.
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01
Checking the implant
Dr. Malik measures the gum around the post with a fine probe and takes an X-ray of the bone beside it. If the implant was placed at another office, ask them to send the X-ray from the day it went in, so the two can be compared.
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02
Cleaning the pocket
With the area numbed, deposits are cleaned off the post with instruments that will not scratch titanium, and the pocket is rinsed with an antiseptic. Sometimes an antibiotic gel goes into the pocket afterwards.
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03
Surgery if it is deep
If the pocket is too deep to reach from above, the gum is lifted back so the threads of the post can be cleaned directly, then stitched into place. Dr. Malik did a residency in oral surgery and does this work here, with nitrous oxide if you want it.
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04
Healing and review
You come back a few weeks later so the gum can be measured again and checked for bleeding. Bone that has already gone does not grow back, so the aim is to stop the loss where it is.
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05
Keeping it stable
Cleanings usually move to every three or four months, and we show you how to clean under the edge of the crown. If the implant is already loose, it has to come out, and we talk about whether the site can take a new one later.
What it costs, and who pays.
The check is one visit and the cleaning around the implant usually takes one or two more, a few weeks apart. Insurance treats implants differently from teeth: some plans cover part of the work around them, others cover nothing once an implant is involved. The estimate says what the surgical option would add if it looks likely.
Ask for a written estimatePeri-implantitis treatment, answered.
Can a failing implant be saved?
Often, if it is caught while the post is still solid in the bone. Once it moves when you push on it, the bone that held it has gone, and it usually has to be removed.
Why did my implant get infected years after it was placed?
The bacteria that cause gum disease collect around an implant the same way they do around a tooth, and an implant has no ligament to slow the bone loss down. Smoking, diabetes and a history of gum disease all make it more likely.
Does treating peri-implantitis hurt?
The area is numbed properly first and we stop if you need a break. If the gum had to be opened, expect it to be tender for a few days afterwards.
My implant was placed at another clinic. Will you look at it?
Yes. Bring or send the records from that office if you can, especially the X-ray taken when the implant went in, because the bone level then is what this one is measured against.
