Question:
The dental implant life is 10-25 years. What exactly happens to the implant
and the bone in the end of its life? What does the patient feel when the
implant is dying? What happens after the implant is removed? Is there an
option to place another implant or they can only use dentures?
And one more question: how long can it take before the implant can be placed
after the root removal?
Answer:
1) End of implant's life? If they survive the first few years, they seem
to go on and on and on. If they do fail after a few years, it seems to be
due to infection traveling down from the oral cavity, and they get loose and
sore.
2) Patient feels looseness and probably soreness.
3) After the implant is removed -- depends on the case. Maybe the surgeon
will graft the site, wait and place a new implant. Maybe the patient will
choose to skip the new implant.
4) If the patient is willing to go through the necessary procedures, an new
implant can almost always be done.
5) Some implants are placed immediately after extraction, some require the
extraction site to heal first, some require grafting and healing of the
graft first, some require other surgery first, each case is unique.
