Bradley J. Engle, DMD, MHS

Sutures are used to keep the tissues connected so that they can heal quickly.  Many times, sutures get dislodged by either your tongue or a toothbrush and oftentimes the gums will bleed due to this.  Your body has a good ability to remodel and reshape itself in general so it is not too alarming to have an extra flap of skin.  It is important to contact your Dentist to make sure that that flap of tissue doesn't need adjustments/ removed.   With a flap of tissue, patients usually play with the area more.

In general, do not worry too much about dislodging the suture.  It should be an easy fix either by an adjustment by your dentist or as part of normal healing.

Good luck

It may be worth a visit to your the Dentist that placed the implant.  I found that a surgical area can become more sensitive if the tongue is pushing and playing in the area (especially at night time and if your not wearing a treatment partial). 

It is encouraging that the are is not red or inflamed.  However, since you had the tooth pulled and the implant placed in a single appointment, there could still be an issue. 

Return to your Dentist and request a Dental radiograph just to make sure.

Hope this helped.  Good Luck

In general, there are no limitations to travel after you have had an implant placed.  Being in Naples Florida, we see a lot of visitors from the North here.   Most of the emergencies that we see result from a temporary coming loose or chipping not an implant failure.

There is a very rare chance that integration (healing) of the implant is compromised.  We know from the studies that at 6 weeks, the implant is still going through a healing process and most healing issues will be identified around this time period.  At my office, a radiograph is offered at 6 weeks to ensure that proper healing is occurring.

If you are worried or have clinical redness around the area, then it would be work a visit to your surgeon prior to jumping on the plane.  However, 99.9% of the time, you should be fine during your visit down here.

Enjoy your trip

From the brief information that you provided:

There are many factors that need looked at prior to restoring an implant placed 12 years ago. 

1.Is the implant in an esthetic zone (Front) or is the implant in the back of the jaw and not visible? 

2. Adjacent teeth can shift creating a spacing issue or compromising the final result

3. Supportive bone of the implant may be compromised or resorbed away

4. Continued development or growth of facial contours/ jaw structures could result in a compromised esthetic final result.

The big implant companies 12 years ago were Calcitek (Zimmer Medical), Branemark (NobelBiocare), 3I and Straumann.  They most likely used either a .048 or .050 hex driver.

An experienced Surgeon can narrow down which fixture was placed.  Using Google, even if you didn't have the original surgeon's name, you usually can track down the office that helped you.

Another place to start, go to the supporting website attached to this response.   It can you narrow down the manufacturer and help order the right parts.

Good luck.

There a number of different options that you have to either mask or correct the esthetic issue.  Depending on the how deep the implant is placed in the gum and if the implant is healthy without any bone loss, the best place to start is by having your surgeon complete a radiographic survey including conventional radiographs and a Dental CT scan (3D x-ray).  If the implant is healthy, then you have a few options:
1. Remove the crown, bulk up the soft tissue thickness above the implant (unpredictable), place a new temporary crown, and evaluate the area prior to restoring a new crown.

2. The laboratory can fabricate a new crown that uses pink ceramics next to the current gingival level. This will reduce the appearance and dull the overall negative esthetics


3. You can remove the crown, bury the implant, (add/ bulk the soft tissue if necessary) and consider an all ceramic anterior bridge.  

4. Removal of the implant will most likely result in additional soft/ hard tissue shrinkage.  You can consider going this route but don't anticipate your surgeon to be to predictably grow the bone back with a procedure called (distraction osteogenesis) which is unpredictable in the wrong hangs.


Hope this helps.