Dental implants for seniors the perfect solution for affected teeth. Around 5 million people get dental implants annually. But the main question that arises is: Does age affect dental implants? With growing age, your teeth begin to deteriorate and degrade, thus affecting your ability to eat and chew food properly. This increases the need for dental implants.
In the following article, we will take a deep dive to understand full-mouth , the relationship between age and dental implants, and how age is a factor in success rates of dental implants. We will also discuss different factors that affect the success rates of dental implants.
Understanding dental implants
Before we go into the age and factors section, it is important to understand what really are. A is a tool made of titanium that is placed inside your jawbone. It is used to support a crown or a bridge to cover the missing teeth section.
Study suggests that the long term success rate of dental implants is 94% at 15 years. Dental implants are a huge success in the world of cosmetic dentistry. Cosmetic dentistry focuses on restoring a person’s smile by recovering their teeth. People seek the help of dental implants for full-mouth dental implants in order to improve their smile. Some factors that affect the success rates of dental implants are as follows.
Factors that affect the success rates of dental implants
There are a number of different factors that influence the success rates of dental implants, following being the most common ones:
- Bone density: Bone density and quality both vary with age. With growing age, people face bone loss. If you have been living with missing teeth for a longer period of time, you may experience more severe symptoms. Bone stability is an essential component required for the integration of dental implants.
However, at this period of time, different techniques such as bone grafting have been developed to allow senior patients to get dental implants. Bone grafting is mostly used in full-mouth dental implants. This adds a bone to the jaw bone to give a stable foundation.
- Healing rate: Senior patients have a longer recovery time than the younger individuals. This is because of their increasing age and slower immune responses. But, with proper care and better instructions, they can experience successful full-mouth dental implants.
- Health and lifestyle: Different lifestyles can affect the success rate of your surgery. If you are a smoker, you may experience a slower healing process.
- Chronic health: Patients with osteoporosis , cardiovascular diseases, or diabetes are more likely to experience a slower recovery. This may lead to bone grafting. Moreover, people who have autoimmune disorders may also face failure.
Dental implants in different age groups
Age influences the success rate significantly. Here is how different age groups experience dental implants:
- Pediatric patients: Pediatric patients experience trauma and accidents more often. This is why their walk-in dentist might suggest dental implants. But, parents must consider this carefully as the bones and teeth of pediatric patients are still growing and developing.
The surgeon must carefully carry out the procedure to protect the natural bone growth and development. In most cases, a dentist might recommend temporary prosthetics for your child before he or she can grow older for a proper treatment. Cosmetic dentistry is not used in pediatric patients.
- Middle aged individuals: This is the best age for dental implants. Whether full-mouth dental implants or partial, young adults and middle aged individuals have the perfect bone strength for implants.
- Young adults are most likely to recover faster as compared to the middle aged individuals. This is because they have better bone strength and stability.
- Middle aged individuals face bone loss or gum damage, thus requiring full-mouth dental implants. They also seek cosmetic dentistry to improve their smile for covering up the aging factor.
- Senior patients: Dental implants are most common in senior patients, specially full-mouth dental implants. This is to enhance their lifestyle and help them smile better. Cosmetic dentistry is most common among these patients.
However, before getting them into a surgery, the surgeon must conduct a thorough review of his or her health and medical history. They often need bone grafting for better stability as their natural bones are degrading and cannot provide a proper foundation.
Factors that affect implant success in seniors
Although the senior patients are perfect for dental implants, they are the ones that suffer the consequences most because of their increasing age and other health concerns. Here are the factors that might affect the success rate of dental implants in seniors:
- Medications: Certain medicines must be used for a successful surgery. These medications include blood thinners in order to minimize bleeding.
- Oral health: Poor oral health can affect dental implant success rates. Great care of teeth and gums is required after getting dental implants. Maintaining good oral habits will help.
- Bone health: Having good bone health is important for successful implant surgery. Senior patients have a weak jawbone, which needs to be fixed before an implant surgery is performed. For this purpose, bone grafting is performed. It adds a bone-like material to the jawbone to provide stability.
- Health conditions: Patients who have diabetes or autoimmune diseases are more likely to get an infection during or after the surgery. Therefore, it is important to consult your doctor who will create a treatment plan that aligns with your health conditions.
Conclusion
To conclude, dental implants have become very common in today’s world. Its importance in cosmetic dentistry has further enhanced its usage. Even though different age groups respond to implants in a different way, it cannot be said that age is the only factor that affects their success rates. However, age along with other health related issues can be a factor.
If you are looking for a successful dental implant surgery, look no further than Lycian Dental Clinic. Whether full-mouth dental implants, or a single tooth implant, we at Lycian Clinic provide the best services.