Dentists and oral surgeons hear this question a lot. Patients over a certain age wonder if Vero Beach dental implants are safe or if they’ll be effective at all. Dental implants work just as well for seniors as they do for younger patients. There is no specific age for dental implants. What’s important to qualify for dental implants is your general health.
When determining a patient’s eligibility for dental implant surgery, we will take into account your bone health, your general health, as well as any medications you may be taking. Adequate bone structure is required for implant support. If your jawbone has had significant bone loss, a bone graft may be required to help regrow the bone.
A vital step for the success of the osseointegration is the patient’s ability to heal. Smoking tobacco decreases your healing rate and is often the common cause of implant failure. The effects of smoking directly impact your overall health and your immune system. Smoking not only causes damage to every organ of the body, but it also reduces your ability to heal. This is due to the constriction of capillaries that decreases the blood flow. Clinical studies have shown the effects of a single cigarette reduces the peripheral blood velocity by 40% in just an hour.
Smoking is one of the factors often discussed in relation to implant failure, but smoking does not eliminate a patient as a candidate for implant surgery. But to help you increase your ability to heal and aid the success of the procedure, we will want the patient to cease smoking for a certain period of time.
If you smoke and need advice and tips on how to temporarily quit for your dental implant surgery, our staff at Smooth Sailing Dental would be able to give you the necessary information about how to quit smoking. If you need to talk to us about Vero Beach dental implants, contact us to schedule an appointment.