Peri-implantitis is the leading cause of implants lost after year three — and it starts in gums that were never treated.
Peri-implantitis is bacterial inflammation around an implant that destroys the bone holding it. Unlike a natural tooth, an implant has no periodontal ligament and no early warning pain — by the time it feels loose, the bone is gone.
The bacteria that cause periodontitis around teeth are the same ones that colonise implant surfaces. Placing an implant into an infected mouth is placing it into the bacteria that will eventually take it out.
Deep cleaning below the gum line, laser decontamination of the pockets, and a re-measurement four to six weeks later. Only when pocket depths are stable do we place implants. It adds one appointment and years of implant survival.
Professional cleaning every six months, interdental brushes rather than floss around implants, and immediate reporting of bleeding. Implants do not decay, but they are lost to inflammation far more often than people expect.
Yes, once the disease is controlled. That is exactly why the periodontal phase comes first.