Page 44 - Southdown Dental Implant Book

Possibly Not Four: Are You a Candidate? | 43 Smokers – Smoking just one single cigarette reduces the speed of blood flow to your fingertips by up to 40% (or more), for an hour! You can only imagine how this enormous restriction on blood flow damages the ability of a body to heal. As a result, implants placed in smokers are up to three times more likely to fail. *However if you stop smoking two to three weeks before implant surgery, and continue to abstain from smoking for a minimum of nine weeks after the surgery, your implants are likely to be successful. (As a doctor, I’m compelled to mention that this may be a great time to quit smoking forever.) Diabetes – This can cause complications throughout the whole body... but in the mouth, it’s associated with higher rates of gum disease, as well as tooth decay. Other complications include dryness, increased possibility for infection and other (not so great) changes. As a result, healing after dental implant treatment occurs more slowly.