If you’re considering dental implants in Richmond or indeed anywhere else in the country and you suffer with diabetes then it’s really important to tell your dentist. Although being a diabetic doesn’t always stop you from having dental implant surgery it can impact on your recovery. As such most experienced implant dentists will look at each case individually in order to see whether it is feasible to go ahead. So what are the issues with diabetes and dental implants? Let’s take a look…
Dramatically slows down the recovery process
When teeth are lost the jawbone gradually starts to deteriorate. This is because the bone tissue that once surrounded the tooth root is no longer stimulated. When a dental implant is secured into the jawbone a process known as osseointegration takes place. This occurs when the natural bone tissue that surrounds the implant starts to merge and fuse with it creating a super-strong platform. This happens over a period of time and is vital to the success of the implant process. From past research it’s understood that healing properties from soft tissue surgery can be dramatically prolonged in those who suffer from diabetes. As an example, in non-diabetic patients the standard healing time for osseointegration is around six weeks, whereas even for someone who has their diabetes under control it may take twelve weeks or more for the same process to take place. In some cases, when a person suffers with uncontrollable diabetes, then the bone fusion process might not take place at all. For this reason every case has to be taken on its own merits.
Gum disease problems
In addition to slow recovery times, diabetics are also considered to be more prone to gum disease than a non-diabetic. This is thought to be because of the high levels of glucose contained within the blood. If you are considering a dental implant in Richmond or indeed anywhere else in the country, the principles remain the same in that in order to go through the implantation process you need to have a healthy mouth. Therefore if there are obvious signs of gum disease, then this will need to be treated first.
As you can see, if you’re a diabetic and you’re thinking about having implants then you need to be aware that the process might not be as straight forward as for a non-diabetic and for this reason it’s imperative to tell the dental surgeon so that they can develop the right personalised treatment plan.
If you want to find out more about how diabetes can affect dental implants in Richmond then speak to Sheen Dental. We’ve been carrying out dental implants to both diabetics and non-diabetics in the London area with great success for many years. So contact us today on 020 8876 5277 or visit our website at www.sheendental.co.uk for more information.