Proper Dental Hygiene : Preserving Dental Implants By Eric Defay General Procedure of Dental Implants A dental implant is a medical procedure which involves the attachment of an artificial tooth root , usually in the form of a metal screw , which is placed into the jaw bone and is done by prosthodontists , specialists in the restoration and replacement of teeth . It serves as an anchor for a false tooth or a set of false teeth . Before the procedure is done ,however , the dentist must first ensure that the patient has healthy gums and teeth (Davidoff , 2006 . After the implant has been placed , it has to heal for approximately four to six months so that the bone can properly hold it in place .During the healing process , the bone fuses with metal implant , which is made from titanium , through a process called osseointegration . Once the bone and the implant have properly fused , the dentist can now place the artificial tooth (Davidoff , 2006 .Complications of Dental Implants The most commonly known complication of dental implants is infection .Dental infection usually starts with a dead tooth and a dental abscess ,a small area of pus in infected tissue , filled with living and dead bacteria . Infection can also break the bond between the implant and the bone and ultimately result in the removal of the implant (Minsk , 2006 .Furthermore , the bacteria can cause peri-implantitis , the inflammation that severely affects the tissue around the implants which can result in the loss of the supporting bone (Mombelli , 1997 .Treatment of Dental Implant Complications The most basic treatment for any bacterial infection is usually by administering antibiotics to the patient . If the infection causes swelling , incisions sometimes have to be made to drain the pus that causes the swelling . On the other hand , peri-implantitis is currently being treated by reducing the bacteria causing it . At present , certain treatment methods such as light decontamination , ozone therapy , and antibiotic treatment have been applied to treat the disease . However ,since perimplantitis cause severe damage to the tissue surrounding the implant , it is difficult to restore it to the normal state . Up to this day , there is still no method to completely restore damaged tissue due to periimplantitis (Karapetian et al , 2004 .Caring for Dental Implant patients Although there are a lot of possible cures to dental infections ,dentists recommend that the most effective way to prevent any infection or complication is to maintain proper oral hygiene . The American Dental Hygienists Association , in its supplemental paper to Access Magazine ,“Implant maintenance and the dental hygienist (2003 ) wrote that Dental Hygienists play a vital role in the preservation and nourishing of the dental implant and also wrote the following guidelines for the whole dental implant procedure for both the Dental Hygienist and the patient receiving the dental implant .For the Dental Hygienist , first , he should identify and substantially educate potential implant candidates and should basically be aware of the patient ‘s over-all history . He must make sure that the patient has adequate bone in…