Tag Archives: switching dental implants

Dental Implants

Is My Husband Reacting to His Dental Implants?

I am quite sensitive to smells and I’m wondering if my husband is having a reaction to his dental implants. His mouth and breath smell awful. He’s had the implants placed and his dentist has given him temporary, acrylic dentures. Eventually, he’ll have porcelain dentures. However, I’m wondering if we need to switch his dental implants before that happens. His dentist gave him the metal implants. I’m wondering if he is reacting to the metal and that is what is causing the horrible odor I keep smelling. I mentioned to his dentist the possibility of switching him to the zirconia implants but he acted like that was a ridiculous idea. Is it?

Kaitlyn,

Dear Kaitlyn,

Metal and Zirconia Dental Implants

I wouldn’t say you were being ridiculous. It sounds to me more like you are trying to make sure your husband is okay. Even if he doesn’t think that the dental implants are an issue, he should have been more respectful of your care and concern for your husband. I am sorry you were treated that way.

That being said, your husband’s metal implants are made from titanium, which is not only one of the most biocompatible materials around, it is also inert. The inert part will tell you the metal doesn’t really have a smell. The biocompatible part means it is highly unlikely he is having any type of reaction to it. It would be foolish for me to say that no one is allergic to titanium. Each person’s body is unique. However, I would look at more common issues first.

The first thing I would check is to see if food or other debris is getting caught in his temporary dentures. This is fairly common and can cause a putrid odor. Using something like a WaterPik, will clean things out. A second possibility is an infection. However, that almost always has other symptoms such as pain or fever. You did not mention either of those.

Switching Dental Implants

Without an extremely good reason that cannot be solved any other way, I do not recommend switching his dental implants. I am not opposed to zirconia implants. They do a fine job. The problem is what would be involved in switching them out.

First, he would need his implants removed. This takes bone structure with it. Because of that, he will no longer have enough bone to retain the new dental implants you want to place. Now, your husband needs a bone grafting procedure done to provide him with the missing structure. Once that has healed, he is onto another surgery to place his new implants. If that is succesful, he will be back to where he is now.

Each of those additional procedures has a risk of failure. If he has successful implants. Keep them.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.

Dental Implants

Zirconia or Titanium Implants

I have three titanium dental implants and recently read that the titanium can cause neurological ill effects. I am now in need of another dental implant. Should I get the zirconia kind this time? Are they better? Should I switch out the titanium ones as well?

Carolyn

Dear Carolyn,

zirconia dental implants

I’m not sure where you read that titanium causes neurological effects. As far as I know, there are no studies with data that supports that. On the contrary, there are decades of data that show titanium to be highly biocompatible in dental implants as well as a large number of other titanium prosthetics, such as knee and hip replacements.

If you want to get a zirconia dental implant, for your new tooth replacement that is fine. You may need to do a bit of internet searching and phone calls to find a dentist who does them. Because they’re considered new, not all dentists are using them yet. You will be able to find someone though. Zirconia is definitely strong enough to work and more dentists are starting to use them. The only concern you may run up against is we don’t have the same data on their longevity the way we do their titanium counterparts. That doesn’t mean they won’t last as long, just that we don’t have the data.

As to whether or not you should switch out your current implants, I wouldn’t recommend it without a good reason to remove them. It is not simply a matter of taking out the old implants and then putting in new ones. When you remove the implants, bone will come with it. In order to place the new dental implants, you will need to have an additional procedure known as bone grafting done. Then, once that has had time to heal, you can then have the new implant placement surgery.

It’s a lot to go through and a huge expense when your dental implants are probably just fine. Plus, there is always a risk the new implants will fail. I’m sure you will find a dentist willing to do the procedure. I just want to make sure you understand what you’re getting into before moving forward.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Drs. Thimmesch and Foreman.