Dental implants and matrix

[Christine Reesor]

I have a 61 yr old woman who had dental implants placed this year. As a young adult, she had jaw surgery for orthodontic work and has wires in her jaw. She also has gum disease and needs a gum transplant. She has a history of abuse, and has great difficulty having work done on her mouth, however she is getting lesions in her mouth “lichen planus” and came to me for matrix. My query: Is there a possibility that with the work of matrix, the changes in her jaw might cause the implants to loosen, and possibly fail? I know that was a very expensive procedure that I would not want to compromise 9unless the implants are themselves contributing to the issue).

[Oliver Hartan]

Hello Christine,

I have done oral and facial work with many people over the years and have never encountered a situation where Matrix compromised dental implants. In fact Matrix Repatterning works to help maintain a healthier scaffolding of bone around the implant.

The reason for this is that the implant is not flexible like a typical tooth and periodontal ligament structure, and therefore transmission of forces through the crown and implant (when chewing) are projected into the alveolar process in a way that can create irritation over time, irritation that can become a primary restriction.

I often recommend my clients that have implants to do periodic self treatment around an implanted tooth to help reduce irritation in the alveolar process.

If a dental implant is becoming loose, I would suspect infection in the maxilla or mandible which can cause the bone to degrade.

Regarding Oral Lichen Planus (OLP), a connection between dental implant failure and the condition has been studied, and from what I can tell, there’s a very low likelihood of OLP leading to dental failure.

Have follow up x-rays been taken to verify that there’s healthy bone density around the implant? If the bone density looks good, I don’t see any risk in treating the maxilla or mandible as a whole, and the alveolar processes.

If the implant has not fully set, or the dentist is concerned about potential failure of the implant due to certain reasons, I’d be cautious about treating it before getting more information from the dentist.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Oliver

[Christine Reesor]

Thank you, Oliver. This is really helpful.

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