Dental Implants and Smoking – Cause for Concern
Smokers beware. If you are considering getting dental implants, you may want to try to quit smoking before having the procedure done. It could be the difference between your dental implant procedure being considered a success or a failure.
Exploring the Success Rate of Dental Implants with Smokers and Non-Smokers
Dental implants have an extremely high success rate. In fact, it was estimated that almost 98% of all procedures are considered successful. While this is good news, you may be wondering what caused 2% of the procedures to fail. A number of factors can cause implant failure, but the most common cause of implant failure is smoking.
Recent research indicates that smokers were less likely to have long term success with their dental implant procedures. In some cases, while the initial implant procedure was a success, the implant would fail several years later.
There are some incidents where smokers didn’t even have a successful initial dental implant procedure. In cases like this, the smoker’s body was unable to adapt to the dental implant and the procedure was considered a failure.
Non-smokers, on the other hand, had an extremely high rate of success with their dental implants. Non-smokers had both a high short and long term success rate. This information leads researchers, and many dentists or prosthodontists, to believe that smoking has a direct impact on dental implant success rates.
Why Smoking Causes Dental Implant Failure
Smoking causes dental implant failure because it slows down the healing process. The healing process is slowed down by the nicotine and other harmful chemicals found in cigarettes. Nicotine and harmful chemicals directly impact the body’s immune system. When the immune system is impacted it prevents the body from healing properly.
Dentists and prosthodontists believe that the slower healing process could cause the implant failure. If the body does not heal properly after the implant is placed, it will never be able to have long term success.
The best chance for dental implant success is to quit smoking. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to quit smoking in time for their dental implant procedure. If you are a smoker and are considering a dental implant procedure, please discuss this with your dentist or prosthodontist. He or she will be able to provide you with advice on how to improve your dental implant success rate.
Advice that may be offered include stop smoking for a short period of time while the dental implant heals, using other non-smoking alternatives, or choosing to undergo a different dental procedure that may be better for smokers.
Schedule an appointment with your local dentist or prosthodontist to discuss what options may be available to you for replacing your missing teeth.
