The Effects of Alcohol on Dental Implants

A little bit of alcohol can be good for your oral health: alcohol disinfects the mouth and kills all bacteria it comes into contact with, red wine can boost the blood vessels in your mouth and lead to more active immune responses in the mouth, and it can reduce swelling and thin your blood as well. Excessive drinking, however, will cause problems, and a life of alcoholism will lead to tooth loss, gum disease, tooth decay and dental implant failure. If you have dental implants do not drink with any sort of regularity, as this will cause alcohol induced dental implant failure.

The effects of alcohol for natural tooth and tooth implant

Why does alcohol lead to tooth loss? Because alcohol not only drains the minerals form your teeth and jaw bones, making them weaker, but it also causes gum recession, which in turn causes the teeth to become loose, as there is less biological material holding the teeth in place. The same problem arises for dental implants. Although they will not decay from the effects of alcohol, and will be spotless and clean, the surrounding tissues will be devastated, and this will cause dental implant failure. When the gums recede from the implantation site, the abutment and the underlying small bit of dental implant will be exposed, and the weakened bone material will also cause the dental implant to move about.
Aside from this structural problem, there is another one: a dried out, receded gum line is less able to protect against bacterial infections and against microbes entering the mouth, which also causes more dental problems for alcoholics, and which can also cause periodontitis and dental implant failure.

What to do 

If you are suffering from alcoholism, make sure that you hydrate more frequently, to limit the damage done by this addiction. Make sure you rinse out your mouth during drinking, and that you have a couple of cups of water with your favourite alcoholic beverage. Make sure you are extra circumspect in your at home oral hygiene routine, as your addiction puts you automatically at risk for tooth decay, gum disease and dental implant failure. Go to your half yearly check-ups, and make sure you have a dentist that does not judge you for your habit, as that can NEVER be the way towards recovery or in dealing with your alcohol related health problems.   

More information about dental implants
More informations about dental implants and alcohol