Short term failure is best described as those failures that occur before the final teeth are made. It could be immediately following the surgery , during the first few months of healing or even a year later.
1. Infection and Poor Healing
Placing an implant is a surgical procedure. Provided the dentist follows aseptic/sterile surgical techniques and precautions the chance of infection is extremely low, even when we consider we are working within the mouth which is full of bacteria. Patients are generally covered with antibiotics as an added precaution. Discomfort following surgery is usually mild to moderate and lasts for 1-4 days on average, and of course depends on the specific procedure being done. Make sure to ask your dentist what is a normal expectation for yourself.
2. Medical Condition Affecting Healing
Generally speaking, if you have lost teeth, you are a potential candidate for dental implant surgery. However, there are certain conditions and diseases that can affect whether dental implants are right for you – this is where the importance of a proper medical assessment comes in.
3. Surgical Technique
A skilled dental surgeon will know the osseo-integration process (how the dental implant anchors to the jaw bone) and be skilled in proper surgical techniques. In those cases healing is often very comfortable and uneventful. If not, the site is more prone to swelling, pain, infection and possible failure of the implant. This becomes more critical if the area is slightly deficient in bone volume or is very dense….overheating of the bone will cause necrosis (bone death) and the implant will likely fail to integrate.
4. Micromovement of the Dental Implant
Dental implants must remain immobile for a long enough period to allow osseo-integration to occur. The analogy I give my patients is similar to when we break a bone in our arm or leg. The fracture is immobilized by use of a cast because if there is movement the bony fracture will not heal. Implants are very similar.