Unsure if you can have dental implants? Health, contraindications and implants

So, you’ve just found out about the world of oral implants and are itching to book an appointment with our team to discuss having them fitted. Great stuff!

Growing in popularity, implants are suitable for almost everyone, provided that they are over the age of 18 and have good health. If you tick both of these boxes, there should be no issue with having oral implants fitted. But are there contraindications?

When you come to our team to have a dental implant in Melbourne, we will conduct a thorough health screening, ensuring that you are healthy enough to have implants fitted with reduced risk of issue, infection or heightened chances of rejection.

But what are some common health problems that are contraindicated for having a dental implant in Melbourne fitted successfully?

Autoimmune disorders

We want to clarify here that when it comes to having a dental implant in Melbourne fitted, it is not an underlying autoimmune disorder that can cause issues, but rather, it is some of the medications administered to treat such ailments.

And so, talk to our team and your doctor about your immunosuppression drugs impact on oral implants and their success.

Cancer

Much like the medicines associated with autoimmune disorders, cancer treatments can also create problems with delayed or longer healing times and indeed, bone density. Therefore, if you have finished cancer treatment, we will need to conduct scans to ensure that your jaw is dense enough.

If you are currently going through cancer treatments, we will advise you to wait until it is over before discussing oral implants. If you have been diagnosed with oral or bone cancer, even post-treatment, it may be unwise to seek oral implants, so we will discuss other restorative options with you.

Diabetes

We want to be as clear as possible here as it is such a common condition, diabetes is not a contraindication of implants, rather it is poorly managed diabetes that can cause problems with this restorative procedure.

This is due to longer healing times and associated infections being more likely, so talk to our team if you have a diagnosis of diabetes and want to have implants fitted.

Osteoporosis

Common in elderly people, osteoporosis has an obvious negative impact on oral implants. Causing loss of bone across the body, this can cause oral implants to become loose or fall out and so if you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, talk to our team about your suitability for implants.

Addiction

As the tides change in the area of addiction, many doctors and other healthcare professionals have now begun to see addictive behaviours as a condition.

And, while you could be forgiven for thinking that smoking and drinking excessively will have no impact on an oral implant, this is not the case; in studies, both have been linked to gum recession and shrinkage, which can prompt the falling out of an oral implant.

And so, if you wish to overcome your addiction issues pre-implant, talk to our team or another healthcare professional for help.

DISCLAIMER

All treatment carries risks. Individual consultation is required with one of our practitioners to ensure that the treatment is right for you.