A dental implant cannot decay but it is susceptible to plaque built up. Such deposition of plaque causes infection in the gum tissues around the implants and affect the success rate of the implants. Hence dentists recommend dental office cleaning for the implants twice a year.
If you get dental implants or implant dentures to replace your missing teeth, you should provide a specific care on them while cleaning.
The implantologists in our Surya Dental Care have explained important things in cleaning and maintaining dental implants. Let us see.
Why dental implants require special focus in cleaning?
Even though dental implants look like natural teeth and perform like natural teeth, they are attached to the bone in a different way. Do you agree?
The root of a natural tooth is attached to the bone with a tissue called periodical ligament. In general, periodical ligaments are made up of fibres that carry blood vessels. They take care of supplying nutrients and other minerals to the tooth through the blood supply. Hence a tooth can efficiently fight against infection.
Unlike natural teeth, false teeth are fixed by implanting a titanium post into the jawbone. The artificial teeth contact the gum tissues with abutment a connective part to mount crown on an implant.
As implants do not have fibres that attach a tooth to the surrounding gum tissues and are unable to get nutrients, they are highly prone to plaque deposition. If the plaque deposition is not cleaned, it will lead to peri-implantitis. This is a condition that infects the tissues around the implants.
Similarly, the materials with which an artificial tooth (crown) fixed with implants are not as same as a natural tooth. If the crown gets damage or scratch, it will attract more bacteria and weakening the implant.
This is the reason behind dentists utilize special cleaning instruments like scalers, curettes to clean dental implants.
How can we clean dental implants at home?
Here are the simple but effective tips to clean the implant supported artificial teeth:
• It is little difficult to maintain the smooth surfaces of the crown and abutment in an implant. Hence you need to switch to specially designed implant brushes and Interdental brushes for your oral care.
• Similarly, you can use electric toothbrushes which are the perfect choice to clean implants. If you prefer manual toothbrush, then use a toothbrush with soft nylon bristles.
• Don’t be abrasive or vigor while you brush. It will damage the crown surface as well as the tooth enamel.
• Regularly floss your mouth with flossing threads. It will help you to extract the food debris and bacteria present between the implants. It opts for people who fix single tooth implants.
• Mouthwashes, Oral Irrigators are also effective to remove the stain causing agents and germs that stick on the implants.
When the inner surfaces of the implant become visible or you encounter receding gums around the implants, visit your Dentist. This is because the implants become loosen or infected. The success rates and durability of the implants depend on how you care about them.
