Upon hearing about dental implants in their treatment plans, many patients quickly dismiss the possibility of having their teeth restored with implants because they are convinced that they can’t have implants due to a medical condition or their age. The good news is that there are only a very few medical conditions that would prevent a patient from having dental implants placed, and when it comes to dental implant treatment, age isn’t a restricting factor.
Many people in today’s society are being treated for common conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, anxiety and depression. As long as these types of conditions are well controlled by diet or medication, they usually won’t prevent you from having a dental implant placed.
Of course, we would want to speak with the physician to make sure that the blood pressure and blood sugar are in a healthy range (as we would for any surgical procedure).
Patients who take certain medications (called Bisphosphonates) for osteoporosis should try to have dental implant treatment before starting their treatment regimen, or many years after stopping osteoporosis treatment. The reason behind this logic is that Bisphosphonate medications (such as Fosomax and Boniva) work by limiting the speed at which your bone remodels, thereby slowing down the bone loss from osteoporosis. However, when these drugs are used, they can also slow down healing and in extreme cases, they can prevent healing and lead to infections. Thus, while being on an osteoporosis medicine will not explicitly prevent you from having treatment with dental implants, it’s essential that you tell us that you are on these medications (and all of your medications) so we can consult with the physician and make an informed treatment decision.
Age doesn’t matter. The only real limitation with age and having treatment with dental implants is that you will need to make a number of visits to the office to have the implants placed and restored. Other than that, there’s no reason why age will prevent you from having implants. In fact, dental implants are fantastic for patients who have loose lower dentures, as implant-retained dentures can be life-changing for many.
Call the office or contact us to learn more about dental implants, and to see if you are a candidate for dental implants.
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