Clean & Maintain Dental Implants
Cleaning around dental implants is a little different from cleaning natural teeth. Dental implants replace the root part of the teeth. Artificial crowns, bridges or removable dentures make up the visible part of teeth that are attached to the implants. In between the implant and the crown of a tooth there is a connector known as an abutment. The success of the whole system is based on the implant's attachment to the jaw bone so it is crucial to keep the implant and surrounding bone and tissue structures healthy.
Preventing Infection
Cleaning implant-supported tooth restorations is just as important as cleaning natural teeth, as both depend on healthy surrounding tissues for support. Plaque collects on implant crowns just as it does on natural teeth and must be removed daily with home care. Without daily plaque removal, an infection can develop known as peri-implantitis. Unlike inflammation around natural teeth, this reaction can be quite catastrophic both in rate and amount, quickly leading to a loss of bone around an infected implant. Bone loss can rapidly progress to implant failure.
Professional Dental Implant Cleanings
Your dental hygienist has an important role to play in keeping dental implants infection-free, and there are many factors to be considered in selecting the right instruments for a professional cleaning.
Your hygienist will use instruments for cleaning that will not damage the crown, abutment, or the implant itself. Maintaining the highly polished, smooth surface of the abutment and crown are critical. If they are scratched they can attract and harbor bacteria which is why the instruments used, called scalers and curettes, are most often made of plastics and resins. Natural teeth do not scratch like porcelain so metal instruments can be used to clean them.
A number of power (ultrasonic) instruments have nylon or plastic sheaths or tips to minimize implant damage. They clean by using high-frequency vibration and water, which may be necessary if large quantities of debris have accumulated. They are used on a low power setting with a lot of water irrigation, and sometimes antibacterial solutions, to clean and flush material.
If any part of the implant itself is visible, this may mean there is infection that has resulted in gum and/or bone loss. The implant surface becomes exposed following loss of its fusion to the bone. Implant surfaces are generally microscopically “roughened” to encourage attachment to the bone. This surface roughness makes implants difficult to clean and disinfect.
Brushes are used to clean biofilm from exposed areas of an implant wherever possible. If calculus or dental cement (used to secure the crowns) is present on an implant surface, the hygienist will use instruments to remove these contaminants.
Despite these special cleaning challenges, implants are highly successful with long-term success rates well over 95%. However, the prevention of peri-implant disease is fundamental to implant health, maintenance and function so properly cleaning implants and their related components is an important part of success.