I’m worried that something is wrong with my dental implants. They feel okay, but the area around the gums on my front tooth is turning gray. Is it possible that I’m developing an infection? Is the implant contaminated? What do I do?
Laurie
Dear Laurie,
First, let me say I don’t think you have an infection. An infection would be accompanied by pain, fever, and possibly some oozing at the implant site. Sounds lovely, right? It’s more likely you have thin gum tissue and the titanium root form is making the gum tissue look graying.
One of the considerations an implant dentist will make is the depth of the gum tissue, especially on the front teeth. If the tissue is unusually thin and would be visible no matter where the placement, today we have other options. Instead of using a titanium implant, he should have used a zirconia implant. Either way, whether it be not considering your depth of tissue or just poor placement, the dentist didn’t do the job as well as he could have.
When You’re Unhappy with Your Dental Implant
Unfortunately, the only way to fix this is to re-do the procedure completely. Once you remove the implant, you will lose some of the supporting bone structure. So in order to place a second implant, it would require some bone grafting.
You could show your dentist how the implant is visible through the gum. Hopefully, he’ll care enough to do something about it. If he doesn’t, you basically have three options:
1. Find another way to get a refund. The best path for that is to get a second opinion from a highly skilled implant dentist. You want someone who’s completed extensive post-graduate study in implantology. For instance, after dental school, Dr. Potts completed a three-year externship at the Midwest Implant Institute, including courses in surgery, prosthetics, and bone grafting.
It may be that your implant wasn’t properly placed. In that case, your second opinion dentist could work with you to get a refund because it will affect the functionality. Unfortunately, if the dental implant is well functioning, it won’t be easy to get a refund. A dental board doesn’t consider ugly work as a reason for a refund.
2. Your second option is to just live with the darkening around the implant. I know. You probably didn’t even want that listed as an option.
3. Pay for the new implant yourself. I wish I had better news for you. I know it’s frustrating to pay all that money and not be happy with the results.
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