December 2022 | Cheek Dental

I had a dental implant placed. It went well. However, since then, I have had bumps inside my mouth near the implant and tingling in the area. Is this just part of the healing process or am I having an allergic reaction to the dental implant? If it is an allergy, is there anything I can really do about it?

Penny

Dear Penny,

Titanium and Zirconia Dental Implants

Congratulations on getting a dental implant. These are the best tooth replacements available. Traditionally, titanium is considered biocompatible. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, an allergy to titanium is considered quite rare. Though, it does happen. Here are some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction to your dental implant.

“An allergic reaction can be reasonably suspected after dental implant placement, on the basis of signs or symptoms associated with allergy, such as rash, urticaria (a raised, itchy rash), pruritus (itchy skin), swelling in the orofacial region, oral or facial erythema (reddening of the skin), eczematous lesions of the cheeks or hyperplastic lesions (an increase of the number of celss) of soft tissue.[1] In these cases, allergy testing should be performed.”

Most allergists do what is known as patch testing, however, that has not been very effective with titanium. Instead, if you and/or your dentist decide to have this allergy tested, I suggest you do a MELISA test (Memory lymphocyte immuno-stimulation assay), which is done through a small blood sample.

If it does turn out to be a titanium allergy, that does not mean that you cannot have a dental implant. You will need to remove the titanium implant and replace it with a zirconia implant. These are metal free. Between the removal of the first implant and placement of the second implant, you will need a bone grafting procedure in order to build back up the bone structure lost during the removal process.

My suggestion is you have a conversation with your dentist about your symptoms and see if he or she can arrange a MELISA test for you.

This blog is brought to you by Marietta Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

I have had white spots on the bottoms of my front teeth since I was a child. They have always bothered me and I am finally in a position to do something about them. However, my dentist insists because my teeth are healthy I should leave them alone. Her exact words were, “Why mess with something that is not broken?” But, the teeth make me embarrassed. I was thinking about teeth whitening as an option but I need an opinion as to whether that will work or not.

Christine

Dear Christine,

Teeth Whitening Trays

I am glad you wrote. While your dentist meant well, the don’t fix what isn’t broke attitude is more the engineering mindset of a general dentist than what you would get from a cosmetic dentist. If it bothers you, then it is worth fixing. However, teeth whitening is not the solution.

Whitening is a great way to give yourself an inexpensive smile makeover. It can make you look years younger. However, it is not the solution for the white spots you are dealing with. Because teeth whitening whitens your teeth evenly, it will only serve to make the white spots even more noticeable.

Before and after dental bonding

What you will need is to have some dental bonding done. This procedure is remarkable at fixing chipped teeth, gaps in teeth, as well as evening out color, such what you are dealing with. The dentist will gently remove the surface where the white spots are and then fill in the area with composite bonding material that can blend in naturally with the remainder of the tooth surface.

The one catch here is that you need a skilled cosmetic dentist to do the work, which is done freehand. Your dentist will not be qualified to do this. I would go to another dentist for that procedure. Once your dental bonding is done, you can return to her for all your general dental work.

To make sure you get a dentist that can do this well, I recommend you look at their smile gallery. This is an online brag book of sorts with before and after pictures of cases they’ve actually done. If they don’t have a smile gallery, they do not do quality cosmetic work.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Dental Implant Allergy?

Teeth Whitening for White Spots

Archives for December 2022