I am a long time smoker with advanced gum disease. I’ve had two teeth fall out recently and am quite embarrassed by how it looks when I smile. I’d like to just remove all of my teeth to get ahead of them falling out and get dental implants. Is that a feasible solution for me?
Jackson
Dear Jackson,
I want to save you from a complete and expensive disaster here. This is guaranteed dental implant failure. Here’s why.
Gum Disease and Dental Implants
Your gum disease is so advanced that your teeth are starting to fall out. That’s because the disease has eating at the bone which supports the roots of your teeth.
If you look at the dental implant illustration above you see that the implant itself is a prosthetic tooth root. It needs the bone to integrate with it to sustain and support the tooth. Without that, the implant will fall out just like your teeth have.
In order to get dental implants, you absolutely must treat the gum disease first. This is priority number one.
Smoking and Dental Implants
Smokers are at much higher risk for getting gum disease than other patients. This may have led to your gum disease. While a smoker, you will always be a high risk patient.
Another issue is that smoking slows down the blood flow in your gums which hinders the healing process. The leading cause of dental implant failure is infection. You don’t want anything to make an infection more likely.
My recommendation is you work with your dentist to get your gum disease under control and then re-evaluate with him whether or not you are now a good candidate for dental implants.
So you are not self-conscious about your appearance, there are temporary tooth replacement solutions which will give you some alternative teeth while you get your gums healthy. Your dentist can help you find the best one for where your replacements will need to be positioned.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.