“Smoking is bad for health” is a warning that you often see manufacturers printed on the box. Or the message on the propaganda poster to prevent lung cancer. However, you will be surprised when I reveal a harmful effect of smoking, is the risk of dental implants failure.
Why is there such a statement? And does this make you more confused when the man in your family (father, brother, husband) or yourself is a “addict” of cigarettes?
Do you have questions about the effect of smoking on the risk of dental implants failure or not?
We will explore this issue together:
First of all, it is necessary to clarify information about how to do a dental implants. This is a drilling measure placing a titanium metal post into the jaw bone instead of the missing tooth root. Once the drilling is complete, our body will respond to the implanted metal post in two directions.
- One is that the body receives “strange things” and integrates the bone completely to the implant and the jaw bone becomes homogeneous (the blood and bone cells will grow)
- Second, the body for some reason, bone will not grow and integrate well with the implant, resulting in the risk of dental implant failure, and transplant results are considered failure.
The main causes lead to the risk of dental implants failure for smokers:
- The most significant is the bad effect on gingivitis, anemia, reduced adhesion, and especially bone loss.
- When the above phenomena occur, it hinders the body’s integration of the bone with the dental implants. And if you do not integrate good bone, the Implant teeth get out the jaw bone is obvious.
- In addition, nicotine and some other harmful compounds in cigarettes prolong the healing process (reduced ability to produce new cells, hypoxemia in the blood, decreased function of white blood cells, etc.), easily lead to infection at the transplant site.
- In terms of bone quality in smokers, bone density is significantly reduced, and it is understood that bones will not be as solid and tight as non-smokers. This also contributes to the increase in bone loss in the implant area.
Thus, for smokers, the risk of dental implants failure is 2-3 times higher than non-smokers.
Can smokers do dental implants or not?
Professional answers: dental implants can be make for smokers.
However, it must be accompanied by the conditions required by the patient and the experience of the treating physician.
Dental clinics usually receive patients in the “special” category like this. And the key to the success of the transplant is the partnership that patients promise to stop smoking for some time before and after the implant.
For example, patients will usually be asked to stop smoking about 15-20 days before implant placement. And then stop smoking for about 2 months (or maybe more) to help the body heal the wounds in the area of surgery. This will reduce the risk of dental implants failure and contribute to the success of the transplant.
It is important to note that smoking is harmful to health, not only affects the heart, lungs but also causes dental diseases (periodontitis, heavy tartar, tongue inflammation, bad breath …), especially to mention the risk of dental implants failure.
Therefore, if you belong to this group, the surgery should be appointed by a skilled specialist and should be performed at the implant center with full equipment meeting the standards of the Ministry of Health.
And importantly, you must follow the doctor’s instructions and cooperate well to truly secure a successful treatment results.
Read more articles:
“Dental Implants for the front teeth”
“When is the dental implant appropriate?”
Quoc Binh Dental Clinic
