Are My Husband’s Dental Implants Reacting with His Jaw?
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My husband got implant overdentures. His dentist gave him the metal kind and I think that is causing a problem. He has the temporary dentures right now. The acrylic ones while he waits for the permanent porcelain ones. However, recently, his mouth has started getting a horrible smell. I’m worried the metal implants are reacting with his mouth. I think he should switch the metal ones out for the zirconia ones. His dentist, however, flat out told me I was nuts and he’d never do that. While not a direct quote, that’s what his sentiment boiled down to and I was a bit annoyed. I can live with the annoyance as long as my husband is going to be okay. If it’s not the metal implants, what could it be? I’m really worried about him.
Anabelle
Dear Anabelle,
I can tell that you love your husband very much and that you are also worried about him. First, the great news. I sincerely, highly, very much doubt that the dental implants are reacting in your husband’s jaw bone. Did I make that sure enough for you? Here is why. The metal used in traditional dental implants is titanium. This is very inert and has several decades of history and data about its use in prosthetics throughout the body. It’s one of the most biocompatible materials available. If your husband’s dentist has any loose in his office, ask him if you can hold and smell one. You’ll notice they don’t even have a smell.
So why does your husband’s mouth suddenly smell so foul? My guess is that there is food and bacteria getting caught in his temporary dentures. This will cause a horrible smell. It may be hard for him to get everything out of there depending on how it is placed. A very easy way to check this is to get him something like a WaterPik. This will get into all those spaces that he can’t and will clean the area out for him. It shouldn’t take too long for the smell to clear up.
You don’t want to remove dental implants just to replace them unless you absolutely have to. First, the implants have to be removed with a surgical procedure. It will take bone with it. That means in order to get more dental implants he will need an additional procedure known as bone grafting. Once that heals, he would finally be ready for his new dental implant procedure. That is three additional surgeries, each of which can fail or have complications. I would not recommend doing that unless his current implants were failing.
This blog is brought to you by Birmingham, AL Dentist Dr. Thomas Dudney.
