As a middle-aged adult, you start to experience symptoms you didn’t before. Perhaps your back hurts more often after the workday ends. Maybe you can’t stand to be on your feet for a long time anymore without pain. Sometimes, although you can seek treatment and therapy, these things just come with age. However, when you feel sensitivity or discomfort where you have a dental implant, you have good reason to worry. Keep reading to learn what this symptom means and what you should do about it.
Is Sensitivity in My Dental Implant Bad?
Without a nerve, ligaments, or connective tissues, your dental implant does not possess the ability to feel anything at all. When it is properly embedded in the jawbone, your prosthetic tooth should feel close to a real one, except you cannot sense hot, cold, or pain through the tooth itself. Therefore, if this replacement tooth does bother you, it’s not a positive sign!
What Does Sensitivity in My Dental Implant Mean?
Most often discomfort at the implant site indicates that the post has become disconnected from the jawbone because of degradation. In other words, the jawbone has deteriorated, leaving the implant insecure. As a result, it can then run into other surrounding nerves and feel sensitive. This is called dental implant failure.
How Does Dental Implant Failure Occur?
Jawbone loss can result from a local gum infection called peri-implantitis, in which bacteria attach the connective, stabilizing tissues that hold the implant in place. You can get this disease by neglecting to brush and floss your teeth every day and to visit your dentist regularly for checkups and cleanings.
What Should I Do If I Feel Sensitivity in My Dental Implant?
The sooner you reach out to your dentist with discomfort in your prosthetic tooth, the more likely you will be able to save your implant. Early on, cleaning out excess cement and built-up plaque can get rid of the infection-causing bacteria. Caught and treated promptly, peri-implantitis doesn’t have to lead to removing the post and starting over.
How Can I Prevent Dental Implant Failure?
Preventing dental implant failure isn’t complicated. The basics consist of simply brushing and flossing daily—like with real teeth—as well as continuing to see the dentist every six months. These small practices can make your implants last a long time and keep your smile comfortable!
Although strange symptoms can start to come up during this phase of life, pay attention to this one! Don’t accept sensitivity in your dental implant, or you could end up losing it and having to begin all over again with tooth replacement. Frequent contact with your dentist can help you keep your dental implant in excellent condition for the next stages of life.
About the Practice
Amherst Dental Group uses cutting-edge technology to ensure dental implant success. Our 3D CBCT scanner reveals more than just bone structure but also blood vessels, nerve endings, and more, helping up avoid complications or pain. Our dentists proactively work to prevent and treat implant failure, preserving our patients’ smile at their best. Do you think your implant could be failing? Reach out to us online or call our Williamsville office at 716-689-8882 immediately.