Regular maintenance will help patients avoid getting peri-implantitis

DENTAL health, like a house, should be looked after – at times it might require some maintenance here and a little fix-it-up there to keep it in optimum condition.

However, when improvements are overdue, the help of a specialist should be employed to rectify a dire situation.

In the case of a building an architect could be used to draw up the plans for the desired structure and in the case of your teeth a prosthodontist – a specialist dentist – is the call to be made.

One such prosthodontist is Port Elizabeth's DrNiel Grundling, who explained he is like the "architect" who plans and restores dental implants and advanced dental reconstruction.

Dental implants, manufactured from titanium, are a dental surgery component that integrates with the jawbone or skull to support a dental prosthesis – a bridge, crown or denture.

Prices for dental implants can start at R17000 if performed by dental specialists.

It should be noted that R7000 of this goes to the manufacturer and in certain circumstances the dental technician is paid R5000 for his or her services if a provisional crown or advanced abutment needs to be processed.

There is a staggering success rate of 98% in surgery of the lower jaw and an equally impressive 95% success rate in surgery performed in the upper jaw, says Grundling.

Smokers have a very low success rate in the upper jaw.

Proper implant integration can also be hindered by the use of medicine such as bisphosphonates to treat osteoporosis, as the medicine results in increased bone density. Grundling says the risk of bone receding or bone-loss around implants, sometimes referred to as "peri-implantitis", mainly occurs in smokers.

To lower risk, implants need to be cleaned and taken care of in the same way as teeth.

Dentistry is like a car, he says.

"Some drive hard like smokers and biltong eaters. Then the car does not last long.

"Hopefully the fixture in the bone will last so only the porcelain needs to be redone.

"In my practice peri-implantitis is by far the minority of dental diseases."

- Deon van der Walt