Who can get dental implants Periodontal treatment

Most adults with healthy gums, enough jawbone and controlled medical conditions can get dental implants. In a meta-analysis, 6.35% of implants placed in smokers failed. The rate in non-smokers was 3.18%. AAOMS advises against implants for cancer patients receiving antiresorptive injections or infusions or antiangiogenic medicines.

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Who is a good candidate for dental implants?

A good candidate for dental implants has healthy gums free of periodontal disease and enough jawbone to hold the implant, according to the American Academy of Periodontology. Cleveland Clinic lists conditions that can make implants a poor option: active or untreated gum disease, bone disorders and some autoimmune diseases, extensive tooth decay, poor oral hygiene, severe bone loss in the jaw and unmanaged diabetes. Ask your periodontist which of these can be treated before surgery.

Older age is not a barrier in the evidence. A meta-analysis of implant patients aged 75 or older found implants a predictable treatment option. Implant survival in that group was 96.1% after five years. Short implants of 6 mm or less are a valid option where bone height is reduced, according to an ITI consensus report. The same report linked certain antidepressants and acid-reflux drugs to higher implant failure. Implants after gum disease and bone grafting cover these fixes.

Can you get dental implants if you have diabetes?

People with well-controlled diabetes get implants with success rates similar to people without diabetes. An updated systematic review found no contraindication to implant surgery in diabetes or prediabetes under controlled conditions. Patients with poorly controlled diabetes had more peri-implantitis and higher implant loss over the long term in the same review.

HbA1c, the blood test for long-term sugar control, is the measure the studies use. Patients with HbA1c under 8% had high short-term implant survival in one review. Above that level, osseointegration progressed at a slower rate. Another meta-analysis linked each 1% rise in HbA1c to extra crestal bone loss. That added loss was 0.24 mm. Its authors advise measuring HbA1c when planning implants, so that undiagnosed or poorly controlled diabetes is found before surgery. Gum treatment and diabetes affect each other, as covered in gum disease and overall health.

Can smokers get dental implants?

Smokers can get dental implants, with a higher risk of failure. A meta-analysis found failure in 6.35% of implants placed in smokers. Failure among implants in non-smokers was 3.18%. Smokers also had more postoperative infections and more bone loss around implants. A later, larger meta-analysis estimated a 140.2% higher failure risk for smokers.

Stopping helps. In a prospective study, smokers who followed a smoking cessation protocol around implant placement showed no significant difference in failure rates from non-smokers. Smokers who kept smoking failed significantly more often. Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust strongly recommends stopping smoking and staying a non-smoker in the long term to lower the risk of implant complications. Ask about stop-smoking support before surgery is booked. Smoking is also a risk factor for gum disease, covered in does smoking cause gum disease, and the rules for smoking after surgery are in implant recovery.

Can you get implants if you take bisphosphonates?

Most people taking bisphosphonates for osteoporosis can get implants after informed consent about a low risk of jaw osteonecrosis. The AAOMS position paper estimates the risk of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) at 0.05% or less with oral bisphosphonates. An ITI consensus found no increase in implant failure with bisphosphonates taken for osteoporosis. A meta-analysis pooled a 0.5% rate of MRONJ after implants in people on antiresorptive drugs for osteoporosis. AAOMS asks for consent that covers MRONJ and early and late implant failure, followed by a long-term recall schedule.

Cancer patients face a different rule. AAOMS states that implants should be avoided in cancer patients receiving antiresorptive injections or infusions or antiangiogenic medicines. Among cancer patients on zoledronate, the risk of MRONJ clusters below 5%. Osteoporosis itself did not lower implant survival in a meta-analysis, though bone loss around the implants was greater. Bring a list of bone medicines and their start dates to the first visit.

Can you get dental implants after radiation therapy?

Implants can be placed after head and neck radiation, with a higher failure risk. A systematic review found a risk ratio of 2.74 for implant failure in irradiated patients. Upper-jaw sites carried a risk ratio of 5.96 in the same review. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy did not reduce implant failure in that analysis. The authors still judged implants a viable option for restoring chewing in irradiated patients.

A second meta-analysis found no significant survival difference between implants placed before or after 12 months following radiotherapy. It found a tendency toward lower survival with higher radiation doses. It also failed to support hyperbaric oxygen for irradiated implant patients. Ask the cancer care team and the periodontist to plan the timing together, and consider a second opinion for complex cases. Other options are compared in implant vs bridge vs denture.

Questions

Is there an age limit for dental implants?

Cleveland Clinic gives 18 as the typical minimum age and sets no upper limit, since jaw growth must be complete first. A systematic review of implants placed in growing jaws found implants sitting below the bite in the upper jaw and rotating in the lower jaw as growth continued. That review advised implants in growing patients only under special circumstances.

Can you get implants if you lost teeth to gum disease?

Implants are placed for people who lost teeth to periodontitis once the disease is treated. A meta-analysis found a risk ratio of 1.69 for implant loss in patients with periodontitis. Their risk ratio for peri-implantitis was 2.17. The 2017 World Workshop found strong evidence that a history of chronic periodontitis, poor plaque control and no regular maintenance raise peri-implantitis risk.

Do I need to stop bisphosphonates before implant surgery?

AAOMS calls drug holidays controversial. For people on antiresorptive therapy for conditions other than cancer, its prevention table advises no change to the operative plan for most patients. For osteoporosis patients, AAOMS states that elective dentoalveolar surgery does not appear to be contraindicated in general. Do not stop a bone medicine without the prescribing physician.

Do antidepressants or acid reflux medicines affect dental implants?

Two drug groups were linked to more implant failures in a systematic review: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a class of antidepressants, and proton pump inhibitors for acid reflux. The review found a 4.3% difference in failure rates with proton pump inhibitors. The difference was 7.5% with the antidepressants. Do not stop a prescribed medicine for an implant; list every medicine for the periodontist.

Can you get dental implants with an autoimmune disease?

Cleveland Clinic cites a study showing comparable implant success rates in people with and without autoimmune diseases. Some of these diseases cause dental problems that make implants harder, and some of their medicines raise the risk of complications during healing. The periodontist reviews the medical history and every medicine before planning the implant.

Sources

Reviewed by Steve Schadt, Director of IT and Medical Compliance: 25 years in dentistry, medicine and HIPAA compliance. Updated 2026-10-02. Checked against the sources listed. General information, not medical advice.

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