Frequency
According to recent studies, periimplantitis affects about 30% of all implant patients. Since periimplantitis is a disease of the tooth bone and can be roughly equated with periodontitis (inflammation of the periodontium on the “right” tooth), patients suffer from similar symptoms. This also means that the risk of suffering from periimplantitis is increased if the patient already has periodontitis. Oral hygiene is therefore the most important factor in the prevention of this disease. Proper, regular cleaning and check-ups by the dentist can help to keep the implants healthy in the long term.
These symptoms may indicate inflammation of the dental implant
While at the beginning there is only a slight gingivitis, the complaints can increase strongly in the late course. At the beginning, the inflammation causes slight pain when touching the surrounding tissue and can be recognized by a reddening. As the inflammation spreads, the gums retract as in periodontitis, bleeding begins and there is more pain when the tooth implant is loaded.
In the worst case, the whole implant loosens and moves when chewing. This can also lead to the formation of pus, which is secreted into the oral cavity via the gum pocket. The dental implant itself cannot cause any pain as it is not a living part of the body.
Rather, it is the gums and the bone in which the implant is placed that cause the pain. The gums redden and swell up when they become inflamed and can therefore hurt and bleed a lot when touched. However, if the pain does not occur at the gums but in the bone, this is a sign that the bone is changing or decomposing.
If bone resorption is very advanced, the implant moves and pus and pain occur when chewing.Pus formation occurs in the advanced stage of periimplantitis, when the implant bone has already been severely reduced and bacteria in the gum pockets can multiply unhindered. Usually the pus formation occurs together with a loosening of the implant. While loosened teeth can often be repaired with the right treatment, implants have a much worse prognosis. Treatment as soon as possible is absolutely necessary to prevent implant loss.
