Blog

Saving Failing Implants – Treatment Options Explained

Bleeding gums, a loose crown or pain around a dental implant? Puresmile Borehamwood Dental & Implants explains what each symptom can mean and the options for saving a failing implant.

📍 27 Manor Way, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire | 🦷 Dental Implant Care | 🚆 Near Elstree & Borehamwood Station

Different implant problems feel different, and they don’t all mean the same thing. A bit of bleeding is not the same as a crown that wobbles, and neither is the same as an aching jaw. Knowing what each symptom can point to helps you decide how quickly to act and what to expect when you do.

At Puresmile Borehamwood Dental & Implants, we help patients from Borehamwood, Elstree and across Hertfordshire who are worried about an implant. Below, we go through the most common symptoms one by one, then explain the treatments available.

Short answer: Most implant problems begin with infection around the implant. Caught early, they can often be treated without surgery. More advanced cases may need surgical cleaning or rebuilding of lost bone, and if an implant can’t be saved it can usually be replaced after healing.

Symptom by Symptom: What It Can Mean

Bleeding when you clean around the implant
What it may mean: Inflammation of the gum, known as peri-implant mucositis. This is the earliest stage of trouble and is usually reversible.
What we’d do: A specialist clean, tailored advice on cleaning technique and interdental brushes, and a review to check the gum has settled.

Red, swollen or tender gum
What it may mean: Ongoing inflammation, possibly with infection spreading deeper.
What we’d do: An examination, measuring the depth of the pockets around the implant, and X-rays to check the bone.

A bad taste, bad breath, or pus
What it may mean: Infection around the implant, which can be associated with peri-implantitis, where the supporting bone is being lost.
What we’d do: Assess promptly. Treatment may be non-surgical cleaning and disinfection, or, if the infection is established, a small surgical procedure under local anaesthetic.

Gum shrinking back, so the implant looks longer
What it may mean: Loss of gum or bone around the implant, sometimes making it harder to keep clean.
What we’d do: Scan the bone, then consider cleaning, bone grafting or soft tissue grafting depending on what we find.

Aching or tenderness when biting
What it may mean: Infection, overloading of the implant (for example from teeth grinding), or a problem with the crown.
What we’d do: Examine the implant and the bite, and take X-rays to look for bone loss or other causes.

A crown that clicks, shifts or feels loose
What it may mean: Often a loose crown or screw while the implant itself remains firm, which is usually a simple repair. Occasionally the implant itself has lost its support.
What we’d do: Check which it is. If the crown or screw is the issue, we repair or replace it and look at why it loosened.

An implant that moves
What it may mean: The implant has lost its anchorage in the bone, which is more serious.
What we’d do: Assess urgently. If the implant can’t be kept, it is usually removed and the area allowed to heal before replacement is considered.

Putting It Together: The Treatment Options

How successful rebuilding is depends on the shape of the bone defect and how well the area is maintained afterwards, so we will be realistic about what is likely to work in your case.

Can a Failed Implant Be Replaced?

Often yes. We first need to understand why the implant struggled, such as gum disease, smoking, cleaning difficulty, grinding or an underlying health issue, so the new one has the best chance of lasting. The area may need time to heal, and bone may need rebuilding first with a bone graft or sinus graft. We would also discuss alternatives such as an implant bridge or implant-retained denture.

Keeping Implants Healthy Long Term

• Clean around implants every day with the brushes we recommend
• Keep your hygiene appointments and regular check-ups
• Stop smoking, or ask us for help
• Keep diabetes and other conditions well controlled
• Wear a night guard if you grind your teeth
• Call us at the first sign of bleeding, swelling or looseness

Easy to Reach in Borehamwood

Puresmile Borehamwood Dental & Implants is at 27 Manor Way, with unrestricted parking outside. Elstree & Borehamwood station on the Thameslink line is nearby, and buses 292 (from Edgware) and 107 (from Barnet) serve the area. We are open Monday to Thursday 8am to 6pm and Friday 8am to 3pm.

We welcome patients from Borehamwood, Elstree, Radlett, Shenley, Bushey, Potters Bar, Edgware, Barnet and the wider Hertfordshire and north-west London area, including those with implants placed elsewhere.

Frequently Asked Questions