Who Can Have Dental Implants?

By Dr. Marco Benigni
Specialist Oral Surgeon

WHO IS NOT SUITABLE FOR DENTAL IMPLANTS?

Cases in which dental implants are not appropriate can include:

•  Systemic disease (or medication) that can compromise the healing of the bone
•  Heavy smokers
•  Uncontrolled gum disease 
•  If the patient is too young
•  Some other contraindications include patients who heavily grind their teeth

Is everyone suitable for dental implants?

Generally speaking, if people are healthy and they are able to have an oral surgery procedure then implants can be placed.

It’s rare that it’s not possible to place an implant but it usually depends on the health of a patient.

Am I suitable for dental implants at my age?

My oldest patient was 92.

If you are too young then you can’t have dental implant treatment.

The age at which you can probably have implants would be around 19 for girls and around 20 for boys.

Before that, it’s absolutely not a good idea because things are still changing.

Bones are continuing to grow so if an implant is placed, the jawbone grows and the teeth move. It’s a disaster.

DENTAL IMPLANTS: SURGERY, ADVANTAGES, RISKS

If you have a specific systemic medical condition that is really, really serious or if you have a severely depressed immune system then implant treatment will not be appropriate.

If a patient is having chemotherapy then, obviously, it’s not a good time to place an implant – there is so much going on already.

With chemotherapy, the immune system is weak and those implants have a very high chance of getting infected.

Who cannot have implants?

It’s the same for other pathologies.

Or you may have a chronic disease that’s not well managed.

Another example would be someone with uncontrolled diabetes.

Some medications can be a contraindication for oral surgery, in which case you would not even be able to have a tooth extraction.