Do you suffer from tooth loss? Are you looking for a better way than dentures to replace your missing teeth? Dental implants are a great option. However, many of our patients worry that their low bone density caused by osteoporosis may disqualify them as a good candidate for dental implants. Before you write off dental implants from your wishlist, learn the truth from your implants dentist at Firouzian Dentistry.
Osteoporosis and Dental Implants
Osteoporosis is a disease that causes your bones to become fragile and porous. It’s found most commonly in women but can also occur in men. When you have fragile and porous bones, this doesn’t just affect your back and femur, but also the rest of your body, including bone density in your jaw. This is what holds your teeth in place and if you were to opt for dental implants, it would hold those in place.
Many patients are concerned that if they have osteoporosis, this would mean that dental implants are not a possibility for them because their bone density is so weak. While this is true for some patients, it’s not true for all. To see if dental implants are a possibility for you, our dentist will need to give you a CT scan to further examine your bone density.
Successful Dental Implants with Osteoporosis
There are a couple of different ways to make your dental implants successful if you have osteoporosis. First, if you have minimal bone loss in your jaw, we may be able to give you small dental implants or give you a bone graft to build up the jaw bone enough to support implants.
If you are already taking medication for your osteoporosis such as bisphosphonates, this medication can actually slow down the progression of bone loss. While this is good as a whole, it can, unfortunately, give you the side effect of slow healing times of your jaw after surgery. Some intense bisphosphonate treatments have also been linked to side effects leading to implant failure.
The balance of the research states that osteoporosis shouldn’t prevent you from getting implants. Some have concluded that if dental implants are placed immediately after your teeth are removed, they have a higher success rate. If you have osteoporosis and you want dental implants, it’s best to act sooner than later.
Don’t Let Your Bone Density Affect Your Dental Implants
If you think that your low bone density is going to prevent you from having successful dental implants, don’t write it off until you can have a thorough evaluation from our dental implants dentist in Columbus. We may have the perfect solution to make dental implants your reality.
To learn more about dental implants in Columbus OH, please call our dental office at (614) 848-5001 to schedule an appointment with our implant dentist at Firouzian Dentistry.
