Healthy gum tissue supports your teeth by holding them in position and keeping bacteria from penetrating the area under your gums. The same is eventually true once you have dental implants placed into your jawbone. As long as you have healthy gums, your gums should integrate well with your new dental implants and you'll end up with a healthy and bright new smile.
Some patients wonder what might happen to their gums once the surgery is complete. Several things will or might happen once your dental implants are in position.
Your gums will heal and grow around the implants
The first step of dental implant placement is the placement of the titanium posts into the jawbone. These posts go through the jawbone and gum tissue and then require several months to fully integrate with the bone and gum tissue. In most cases, gum tissue grows around the titanium posts and helps support them.
Your dentist may also place a dental crown or healing abutment onto the post while you heal. This helps to guide the gum tissue and prevent it from growing over the titanium post.
Your dentist will monitor your gums while you heal
Over the months that your dental implant heals, your dentist will monitor your healing implant to ensure that it integrates with your jawbone and gum tissue properly. Dentists can use modern technology, such as x-rays, to ensure that your healing proceeds properly.
Dentists need to monitor your gums to ensure that they don't grow over the implant during the healing process. And once your dental implant has integrated with your jawbone and gum tissue fully, your dentist will check your gum tissue to ensure that it covers the implant adequately and has an aesthetic shape.
Your gums might recede if they aren't fully healthy
During the healing stage, which can take several months, you need to ensure that you keep your teeth and gums as healthy as possible. This is important since if your gum tissue becomes infected, your dental implant may eventually fail. One clear sign that a dental implant has begun to fail is gum recession. The gums pull away from the dental implant, allowing bacteria to enter the area.
This is why patients generally have their gums treated for gum disease before they undergo implant surgery. Gum disease can lead to dental implant failure. So if you plan to get dental implants, check with your dentist that your gum tissue is healthy. And be sure to take good care of your gums during the healing process.
Share8 April 2022
I have worked as a school nurse for decades. Children come to me with all sorts of scrapes and bumps and bruises. Black eyes from playing football, sprained wrists from falling off the monkey bars and stomachaches from too many sweets are common complaints. However, the issue that seems to cause the greatest angst is tooth problems. Sometimes a child will have a second tooth knocked out when playing sport and parents arrive in tears. At other times, children come to my office crying because their friends are teasing them about teeth that are discoloured or stick out. I take an active interest in the latest dental news so that I can give parents and children comfort and advice. I have included some of my collected wisdom on these pages. Perhaps this information can help you understand some options when faced with a dental problem. Thank you for reading.