If you have been told you are too old for dental implants, or you have quietly assumed it, this is the answer in full. Dr. Spiros Karas, a general dentist in Manalapan, New Jersey, walks through what actually decides whether someone is a candidate, one item at a time. Watch the video below, or read the whole thing underneath it.
Or call the office on (732) 577-9000.
Is there an age limit for dental implants?
No. There is no upper age limit for dental implants. Age is not the thing that decides it, and if a practice has turned you down and the only reason given was your age, there should be a specific clinical finding behind that: a scan, a medication, a condition. If nobody can name the finding, that was not a clinical decision. Two national bodies say the same thing from opposite directions, and that is where this starts.
What does the ADA actually say about age?
The American Dental Association states that your health is more of a factor than your age. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons describes implants as an option for people of all ages, with one exception, and the exception is children who are still growing. Not seniors. Children. That is the whole of the age question in professional guidance, and it is why everything below is about health and bone rather than birthdays.
What actually decides whether you are a candidate?
Two things, mostly. Whether you can safely have ordinary dental treatment, and whether there is enough bone in the right place to hold an implant. The oral surgeons put the first one simply: if you can have routine dental treatment, you can generally have an implant placed. The bone is the part that changes over time, and it changes because of missing teeth rather than because of birthdays. Tooth roots keep the bone in the jaw alive and full, the same way using a muscle keeps it from shrinking. When the root goes, the bone slowly goes with it. That is also why waiting is not neutral.
Which health conditions change the plan?
Most of them change how treatment is planned rather than whether it happens at all. The American Dental Association notes that chronic illness such as diabetes can interfere with healing. The oral surgeons note that patients with high blood pressure and diabetes usually still qualify. Both of those are true at the same time. What matters is how well a condition is controlled, not the name of it on a chart. Smoking is the exception worth knowing about: a large review put the odds of an implant failing at roughly double for smokers. That is one analysis, so hold it loosely, but it is a substantial one and it points the same way the smaller studies do.
Does healing really slow down with age?
Some of it does. A review of ten year implant outcomes found what the researchers themselves called a possible doubling of the risk of implant loss in the older age groups, once they accounted for patients lost to follow up. Possible is their word, and it is worth keeping. That is an argument for planning carefully rather than for doing nothing, because bone continues to change under a missing tooth whether a decision has been made or not. The version of this decision available this year is very often simpler than the same one two years from now.
What about blood thinners and osteoporosis medication?
For most people neither one stops treatment, and neither should ever be changed on your own. The American Dental Association states that for most patients it is unnecessary to alter anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy before dental treatment, and that bleeding can be controlled with local measures. Any change to that regimen is made with your physician, not by a dentist alone. On osteoporosis medication, the ADA states that antiresorptive therapy does not appear to be a contraindication for dental implant placement, and puts the highest reliable estimate of jaw osteonecrosis at standard osteoporosis doses at approximately one tenth of one percent. On cancer dose therapy the same source puts it between one and ten percent, which is a different plan and a different conversation.
Is it worth it at my age?
On ten year survival the research does not fully agree with itself. One review reported about ninety six percent, then about ninety three percent once it accounted for patients lost along the way. The oral surgeons quote about ninety five percent. The honest summary is that most implants are still working at ten years, and the exact figure depends on who counted and how. Nobody can promise a lifetime. What that range does give you is something you can plan around, which is more than a lot of treatments offer.
What would you tell me at a consultation?
Three things. Where your bone actually is, measured on a three dimensional scan rather than guessed at. What your medical history changes about the plan and the timing. And sometimes, that implants are not the right treatment for you, or not yet. That last one matters. And for anyone who has put this off for years: here at our Manalapan office, we will not judge you. Whatever is going on in there has almost certainly been seen before, and the job is to walk you through exactly what is happening. No surprises.
Classic Dental Arts, 123 NJ-33 East, Suite #104, Manalapan Township, NJ 07726. Call (732) 577-9000. We see patients from Manalapan, Freehold, Marlboro, Englishtown, Old Bridge, Howell, Millstone and across Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Does Medicare cover dental implants?
Dr. Spiros Karas, General Dentist, Classic Dental Arts, 123 NJ-33 East, Suite #104, Manalapan Township, NJ 07726. Phone (732) 577-9000. NJ dental license #22DI1608300. This page is educational and not a substitute for an in-person exam; individual results vary.