Dental implant success rates are already very high (over 95% when performed by an experienced dentist), but dentists are a bit of perfectionists, and we won’t be happy until that success rate gets a little closer to 100%. That’s why we’re happy to see that people have found a good treatment for a problem that can lead to dental implant failure, implant peri-apical lesion (IPL).
What Is IPL?
IPL is a complication of dental implants in which the top of the implant seems perfectly normal and is adequately integrated with your bone, but there is some space lower down on the implant where the implant and the bone are not making contact. It occurs in about 0.26% of dental implant procedures, so it isn’t a very common complication, but it can lead to implant failure if not properly treated.
There are two types of IPL, active and inactive. Active IPL is dangerous because it is infected with bacteria, and can worsen with time, leading to implant failure. Inactive IPL isn’t likely to get rose. It’s more like the presence of a certain type of scar tissue around the dental implant.
Treating IPL
Now a new case study shows that even active IPL can be successfully treated using guided bone regeneration without removing the implant. In the case study, a woman reported pain and swelling around her implant, and she was found to have an IPL. The infected area was exposed with surgery, treated with an antibiotic cream, and a small amount of tissue membrane was placed to encourage bone growth. Then the area was covered back up and allowed to heal.
At the one-month follow-up, there was no pain or discomfort at the implant site. Follow-up was done for five years, showing that the tissue membrane encouraged bone to grow around the implant.
Dental Implant Techniques Continue to Improve
It’s an exciting time to be a dentist, because new technologies and techniques are continuing to be developed to help us deliver better procedures and better results for our patients.
This not only means that our success rate continues to improve, but that we can serve more people with dental implants who weren’t candidates before. If you’ve been told in the past that you weren’t a candidate for dental implants, you may be now. To learn if you are, please call (912) 234-8282 today to be evaluated by a cosmetic dentist for dental implants in Savannah.
