CommentaryKeep the ones you’ve got
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Background
Teeth lost to disease, injury, or congenital tooth agenesis are often replaced by dental implants, with this option widely incorporated into everyday dental practice. As a result, patients have enjoyed major improvements in oral health, better function, better esthetics, and improved phonetics compared to previous outcomes. However, gathering research is exposing the adverse outcomes associated with implants. Among these are biological complications and the unpredictability of implant therapy.
Complications of Implant Therapy
The complications noted with implant therapy have been reported by specialists in periodontology, oral surgery, prosthodontics, and implant dentistry. Biologically, persistent infections can develop around the implants, including peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis. Nearly every dental implant system is susceptible to peri-implant biological complications.
In addition, the implants themselves may fail, which also puts restorations built on the implants at risk for failure. The resulting
Saving Teeth
The retention of compromised teeth and treatment of the problem is normally less expedient than implant placement. Often practitioners recommend implants even when teeth are only modestly compromised by caries, the need for endodontic therapy, or periodontal disease to provide the patient with a quick solution to the problem. Less trained individuals often recommend tooth extraction rather than retention. This condemns many teeth that could be treated and returned to good function. Even those
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Giannobile WV, Lang NP: Are dental implants a panacea or should we better strive to save teeth? J Dent Res 95:5-6, 2016
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