What are the options if a dental implant doesn’t work?

If an implant does not achieve, or cannot maintain a rigid fixation with the surrounding bone it will become loose and it will no longer support surrounding replacement teeth. More commonly than not the failing implant causes little discomfort and if there are enough remaining, it may not need to be replaced at all.

Failures may not always be so easy to deal with and if you embark upon such a venture you must be prepared to deal with this kind of possibility. Most treatment providers will want to achieve failure rates of well below 5%. However, in practice this could mean that 1 in 20 of the implants placed may not survive in long-term function. It is a good idea to discuss your treatment plan with your treatment provider about how your plan might be affected by the loss of an implant.