At what age are dental implants suitable?
Age is hardly an important factor when it comes to dental implants. Anyone who has lost a tooth can get a dental implant, as long as they are an adult, in good health and free of chronic disease.
Dental implants can be placed across a fairly wide range of ages. However, not every age group can easily have a successful implant. There are also some contraindications, cases in which an implant should not be placed because it would affect the patient's health as well as the chances of the implant succeeding.
When dental implants are not recommended
Children under 18: at this age, the bones of the jaw and face are still developing and settling, so an implant would affect the structure of the jawbone.
Pregnant women: before getting a dental implant you need a CT scan (X-ray), and the procedure requires local anesthesia or even general anesthesia, which could affect the unborn baby. So expectant mothers who are planning to get an implant should wait until some time after the baby is born.
Patients with chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or osteoporosis… can still get dental implants, as long as their condition is well controlled and they take their medication regularly.
People with unstable mental health: because an unstable mental state can affect the implant process, these patients should consult their doctor before getting an implant.
Apart from the cases above, all patients can get dental implants. Implants are especially valuable for older people, and this is the age group for which implants are most suitable, because for various reasons they often find it hard to keep their teeth clean, which leads to periodontitis and the loss of all their teeth.
In the past, the usual way to replace teeth for older people was dentures, but it is hard to eat and chew comfortably with them. According to dental experts, removable dentures often feel bulky in the mouth, offer limited chewing function, take away some of the enjoyment of food and get in the way of speaking. Their clasps can damage the natural teeth, and the bone of the jaw ridge gradually shrinks, so the dentures become loose and after a while have to be adjusted or remade. In addition, years of friction between removable dentures and the jaw ridge can injure the ridge and lead to harmful growths in the mouth.
These explanations should help you better understand the advantages of dental implants and the age at which they are most suitable. Dental implants have overcome many of these drawbacks: they make eating and chewing easy and look just like natural teeth.