If you have lost all of your teeth, then you may want to go through some type of reconstruction. Full mouth reconstruction can involve the placement of dental implants, and you will need to speak with a dentist and an oral surgeon to find out how the implant process can be started. The process will involve an evaluation of your mouth. If you have any type of gingivitis or active gum disease, then this will need to be treated first. Keep reading to understand why and also to find out how what the treatment will involve.
Why Does Gum Disease Need To Be Treated?
During an implant operation, your gums will need to be cut and opened up so the jaw can be directly accessed. This allows the dental professional to secure the implant and to stitch up the tissues afterwards. If the gums are infected, then this is not possible. Infected tissues cannot heal from trauma like healthy ones. This means that the incision site is unlikely to recover properly after your operation. Also, when the infected tissues are cut, bacteria is likely to spread deep in the jaw. This can cause a serious infection of the jaw.
If a gum infection does not immediately cause issues, it can lead to a future infection problem after the implant device is initially able to heal. The infection is called peri-implantitis. Peri-implantitis can result in the failure of the dental implant. This typically occurs due to bone loss around the implant device and it may mean that the device is able to loosen from the jaw.
How Is Gum Disease Treated?
A dental implant cannot be placed if you have active gum disease. This means you will need to go through treatment before the implant operation can be scheduled. Treatments may involve scaling, root planing, and gum grafting in some cases. You may need to use an antimicrobial mouthwash for some time as well. This type of fluid may be prescribed after your implant operation too, so that infections are well controlled around the implant site.
There are several other advanced treatments that may be used to make sure that gum disease is controlled before an implant is secured. The placement of antibiotic chips in periodontal pockets or the addition of microspheres may be an option. Antibiotic gels may be used as well to reduce bacterial activity in the mouth.
Your dentist may ask you to take certain types of medications too, like enzyme suppressants or oral antibiotics. Oral antibiotics may be used long term both before and after implantation to control infection risks.
Share23 February 2017
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