For a long time now, our diabetic patients suffering from missing teeth have been denied treatment with dental implants in Cherry Hill and Camden County. The reason for this is that it has long been believed that diabetes may prevent dental implants from properly healing, resulting in its failure. However, a recent study has shown that this may not actually be the case. In fact, the success rate for dental implants in diabetic patients can be just as high as it is for our non-diabetic patients. Today, Dr. Craig S. Donn is blogging from Cherry Hill and Camden County, NJ to talk about diabetes and why more patients who suffer from the condition are being allowed to move forward with dental implant treatment.
Don’t Let Diabetes Stop Your Dental Implant Treatment
Something that is completely unique to treatment with dental implants is the fact that they are integrated into the bone structure of your mouth. Through a process called osseointegration, your jawbone grows up along the implant fixture, and becomes able to manipulate it just like a natural tooth. This implant fixture is one of the three parts that makes up a dental implant, and it serves as a replacement tooth root. This process is incredibly important to the dental implant treatment, as it allows the implant fixture to bare the force and energy of everyday use.
Every now and then, patients with certain habits or medical conditions are turned away from treatment with dental implants. This is because it is thought that these things might interfere with the implant fixtures ability to osseointegrate. For instance, patients who smoke have long been advised against treatment with dental implants because their chances of experiencing peri-implantitis is much higher than non-smoking patients. While we have had much success placing dental implants for our smoking patients, the fact is that the chances of this treatment failing is much higher for them than it is for our other patients.
Diabetes has long been looked at the same way as smoking is when it comes to treatment with dental implants. However, recent research has shown that diabetes may not have as much of an effect on the implant process as was thought. This study states, “Success of dental implant in well and fairly controlled diabetic patients with proper treatment planning, prophylactic remedies and adequate postsurgical maintenance appears as good as normal individuals” (Debey, Gupta, and Singh [2013]). To put it simply, so long as your condition is well cared for and you are properly watched, the chances of your treatment succeeding are just as high as they are for patients without diabetes.
Call and Schedule a Consultation with Dr. Donn
Because there is still more research that needs to be conducted regarding the effects of diabetes on the dental implant process, we can only determine a diabetic patients candidacy for the treatment on a case by case basis. In order to do this, it is important that you contact us and schedule a no-obligation consultation with dental implant provider, Dr. Craig S. Donn, today. During your consultation, Dr. Donn will perform a thorough examination to determine if dental implants are the best possible treatment for your needs.