Implant Gum Disease Treatment
Gum disease around dental implants can occur but doesn’t necessarily mean that the dental implant won’t last forever. If gum disease around an implant occurs, its function, aesthetics, and longevity may be compromised.
Gum disease around implants refers to the development of gum disease surrounding an implant. There are two major types of implant gum disease: Peri-implantitis and Pericoronitis.
- Mucositis: Inflammation of the gums around an implant, similar to gum disease around natural teeth.
- Periodontal disease: inflammation and loss of tissue around tooth roots, much like peri-implantitis around implants
Like periodontal disease, implant gum disease usually goes undetected or ignored because most people who suffer from implant gum disease don’t feel any pain or discomfort. However, when the disease has progressed to an advanced state, patients may begin to experience pus, bleeding gums, tooth sensitivity, bad breath, bad tastes, and gum recession around their dental implants.
Causes of implant gum diseases include poor oral hygiene, trauma,
Implant gum disease is caused by the colonization of hundreds of different bacteria species around the Implant, but especially the abutment and surface of the implant screw. When this happens, it is often harder to clean the implant, because the screw surfaces are deliberately roughened so that they encourage in-growth of bone into the implant. Some risk factors for implant gum disease include:
- Poor oral hygiene
- Lack of regular dental checkups
- Medical conditions (e g, uncontrolled diabetes)
- Smoking
Implant Decontamination
Implant mucositits can be treated non-surgically with implant debridement. To treat peri-implantits, non-surgical therapy is used. However, the success rate of such treatment is low. Since it is very hard to completely cleanse the contaminated implant surfaces without surgically removing the gum tissue around them, peri-implanitis is mainly treated with surgical intervention. Lasers have recently been shown to have an effective role in decontaminating implants.
Bone Grafting Around Implants
Bone loss around an implant is called peri-implant disease. If necessary, bone grafting material can be used to fill up the defect. Sometimes, if bone loss is severe, removing the crown and abutment from the implant might be required for performing bone grafting.
Gum Grafting Around Implants
Gingival recession can be caused by inflammation and bone loss around dental implants, as well as implant misalignment. When needed, gum grafting can help grow the lost gums around implants.
