Dental implants have the potential to be a lifelong solution to missing teeth and catastrophic dental failure. Ideally, your dental implants will need minimal maintenance to maintain their stability over the long run. Unfortunately, failing dental implants can happen. Poor placement results in excess pressure when biting and chewing with your dental implant. Chronic gum disease and difficulty keeping your restorations clean can allow bacteria to invade the area around your implant, leading to implant failures. Improperly selected posts for your anatomy can also compromise the health of your implants. Any of these issues can lead to a condition called peri-implantitis. While rare, failing dental implants due to peri-implantitis can be discouraging after the investment of time and money you’ve made into rebuilding your teeth. Fortunately, our advanced training, years of experience, and state-of-the-art technology allow us to treat peri-implantitis and frequently save failing dental implants.
Lasers have become integral to many aspects of medicine, perhaps none more so than dentistry. Laser-Assisted New Attachment Procedure (LANAP) is a well-established, FDA-approved approach to treating periodontal disease using the PerioLase MVP-7 laser, a powerful and precision tool in the battle against failing oral health. Where LANAP refers to using this laser to treat natural teeth, Laser Assisted Peri-Implantitis Protocol (LAPIP) is a more recently developed application of this amazing technology to treat implant failures. LAPIP enables us to reverse the damage caused by peri-implantitis in most cases. It calls for the use of a specific wavelength of the PerioLase MVP-7 laser to penetrate into the affected tissue to vaporize bacteria and remove infection. Although the laser completely cleanses the pocket around the dental implant, it allows the regeneration of healthy tissue in its place, helping to return stability to the affected implant post.
Our advanced education and rigorous training makes us experts in delivering reliably successful dental implants that last.
Our approach to failing dental implants is to prevent them from ever happening in the first place. Our advanced education and rigorous training makes us experts in delivering reliably successful dental implants that last. Our emphasis on function and mechanics ensures appropriately matched teeth and evenly distributed forces. We will carefully evaluate your bone volume, ensuring a strong foundation for your implant posts. Then, using the most advanced technology and up-to-date techniques, we’ll use high-fidelity digital diagnostics to design your prosthetic and fabricate precision surgical guides to eliminate guesswork. We also provide continuous care right here in our office to maintain the health of your implants long term. However, there are factors beyond our control which can compromise the health of your implants. Systemic health problems such as diabetes and tobacco use can impede healing. Poor placement or improperly selected materials from other dentists can likewise cause implants to fail over time. When problems do arise, we are committed to making every possible effort to salvage your implants.
In the unlikely case that an implant post cannot be salvaged, don’t lose hope! As certified Prosthodontists, we have advanced education and specialized training that allow us to provide the care you need. In the rare case of a truly irredeemable implant, we can safely remove the post, clean out the affected site, rebuild the bone volume as needed with bone grafting or ridge augmentation, and deliver a properly placed implant. This process will take place in stages to allow complete healing between each phase of treatment and ensure great results. We know the prospect of going through another round of implant surgery can be discouraging, after all, you’ve already been through the process once before. It may feel tempting to give up and settle for an old-fashioned denture rather than remediating your implants, but Dr. Chan Cheong and Dr. Soo-Woo Kim are here to listen to your concerns with compassion and empathy and guide you through all potential courses of treatment. You deserve a full set of strong, functional teeth, and we have the skills and technology to provide them. You’re in the best possible hands at Boston Implant Center, and we would love the opportunity to address your concerns in a no-risk dental implant consultation.
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