You’ve invested quite a bit in your new dental implants. And it truly is an investment: because of implants’ potential longevity, their long-term costs could actually be lower than other restorations whose upfront costs might be less.

But to better ensure their longevity, you’ll need to keep your implants and the natural tissues supporting them clean of bacterial plaque, a sticky biofilm that can cause periodontal (gum) disease. Although the implant itself is unaffected by disease, the natural tissues around it can be.  An infection could ultimately weaken the bone supporting the implant and lead to its failure.

Such an infection involving implants could advance rapidly because they don’t have the natural defenses of the original teeth. Our natural teeth are connected to the jaw through the periodontal ligament, a collagen network that attaches to both the teeth and the bone through tiny tissue fibers. This connection also provides access to antibodies produced by the body to fight infection.

By contrast, we place implants directly into the jawbone. While this creates a very secure attachment, the implant won’t have the same connection as teeth with the body’s immune system. That means any infection that develops in surrounding tissues can spread much more rapidly—and so must be dealt with promptly.

Treating this particular form of gum disease (known as peri-implantitis) is similar to infections with natural teeth and gums, with one important difference involving the tools we use to remove plaque from them. While natural teeth can handle metal scalers and curettes, these can create microscopic scratches in the porcelain and metal surfaces of an implant and create havens for further bacterial growth. Instead, we use instruments made of plastic or resin that won’t scratch, as well as ultrasonic equipment to vibrate plaque loose.

To avoid an infection, it’s important that you brush your implants and surrounding tissues just like you would your natural teeth (be sure you use a soft-bristled brush). And keep up regular dental visits for thorough cleanings and checkups to stay ahead of any developing gum infection. Maintaining your dentures will help ensure they continue to brighten your smile for a long time.

If you would like more information on dental implants, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Dental Implant Maintenance: Implant Teeth Must be Cleaned Differently.”

Children have a lot of energy that's often channeled through physical activities and sports. Unfortunately, this also increases their risk of injuries, particularly to their teeth.

Injuries to the mouth can endanger permanent teeth's survival. For an older tooth, a root canal treatment might be in order. Not so, though, for a pre-adolescent tooth, even if it is permanent.

A young permanent tooth is still developing dentin, the large layer just below the enamel. This growth depends on the connective tissue, blood vessels and nerves within the pulp in the center of the tooth. Because a root canal treatment removes all of this tissue, it could stunt dentin and root growth and endanger the tooth's future.

Instead, we may need to treat it with one of a number of modified versions of a root canal, depending on what we find. If the tooth's pulp is unexposed, for example, we may need only to remove the damaged dentin, while still leaving a barrier of dentin to protect the pulp. We then apply an antibacterial agent to minimize infection and fill in the area where we've removed tooth structure.

If some of the pulp is exposed, we may perform a pulpotomy to remove just the affected pulp and any overgrown tissue. We then place a substance that encourages dentin growth and seal it in with a filling. If we go deeper toward the root end, we might also perform procedures that encourage the remaining pulp to form into a root end to stabilize the tooth.

If the entire pulp has been damaged beyond salvage, we may then turn to a procedure called an apexification. In this case we clean out the pulp chamber; at the root end we place mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), a growth stimulator that encourages surrounding bone to heal and grow. We then fill in the root canals and chamber with a special filling called gutta percha to seal the tooth.

The deeper we must penetrate into the pulp, the higher the chances the young tooth's dentin and roots won't form properly, leading to later problems and possible loss. But by employing the appropriate one of these methods, we can minimize the risk and give your child's damaged tooth a fighting chance.

If you would like more information on children and dental injuries, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Saving New Permanent Teeth after Injury.”