I have always envied those around me who seem to always have perfect smiles without even trying, because I feel like I was born with "bad teeth." While my teeth are in great shape now, it is only because I take great care to visit the dentist every six months for a check-up and cleaning and maintain good oral hygiene habits at home. While I used to get a lot of cavities, even though I thought I was doing "everything right" to keep them away, I am proud to say that I have been cavity-free for a couple of years now! I put a lot of research into what daily habits can wreak havoc on my teeth, and I thought it would be a shame not to share what has helped me with others who need the advice. I plan to post many oral health tips on my new blog!
There aren't that many prerequisites for receiving a dental implant. Many potential obstacles that might exclude a patient can be overcome. For example, if someone's jawbone lacks the density to anchor an implant (which can be the case when the tooth has been absent for an extended period of time), they can undergo bone grafting to prepare their jaw. But there's a common condition that can complicate the implant process, and that's diabetes. As a diabetic, are dental implants the best solution for your missing teeth?
Your Circulation
One of the primary concerns that a dentist will have is related to how your diabetes affects your circulation. Your elevated blood glucose levels have caused fatty deposits to form inside your blood vessels. This slows your circulation, which in turn affects your healing process. Your diabetes can slow down your healing, and it's during this healing process that the implant integrates with your jawbone, in a process called osseointegration. Any delays or disruptions to this process increase the chance of implant failure.
The Rest of Your Body
Additionally, the implant's impact on the rest of your body must be carefully considered. Diabetes can affect cardiovascular functions, your vision, your kidneys, and your nerves (neuropathy—which is most pronounced in your hands and feet). Of course, a dental implant won't have a direct effect on these other regions of your body, but any surgery inflicts stress on the body, which becomes potentially problematic when the body is already under considerable distress due to diabetes.
Unpredictability
Diabetes can bring an unacceptable element of unpredictability to what is generally a predictable form of surgery and recovery. As a diabetic, you can still receive a dental implant, but nothing should be left to chance. Poorly-managed diabetes can prevent you from receiving an implant. But if your diabetes is well-managed, your surgery and recovery should be more-or-less the same as someone without diabetes. Uncontrolled diabetes sharply increases the risk of postoperative complications, including infections and outright failure of the implant to integrate with the underlying jawbone.
Under Control
As you may have guessed by this point, your diabetes must be under control before you can receive a dental implant. You may require additional preoperative considerations to reduce excessive bleeding caused by your surgery. Additionally, you may need more postoperative assessments than someone without diabetes to ensure that your implant is healing as expected and that your osseointegration is successful.
In short, if you haven't been managing your diabetes as well as you could, be prepared for a dentist to advise you to address this problem before you can receive a dental implant.
Share6 January 2022
