What are the causes that make an implant healing cap fall out - get unscrewed?

Question

Can the gingiva make the healing abutment fall out if it was too tightly stitched? If the gingiva has closed over the implant and patient is travelling. What are the consequences of leaving the implant with no healing cap?

John Paul Gallardo, DDS · Answer

The movement of the tongue, brushing the cap, eating certain food, etc can cause the healing cap to fall off. Healing caps aren't meant to be kept longer than the recommended time provided by your dentist.

Richard Champagne, DMD, MAGD · Answer

The purpose of a dental implant healing collar is to simply keep the gum tissue from closing back over the top of the dental implant.

It's not uncommon for a healing collar to become loose and there is truly no cause for concern if this happens.

There's no potential for harm to the dental implant, especially if you'll be returning to the dentist fairly soon to have the abutment and crown inserted.

I hope you found this information to be helpful,

Dr. Champagne

Doug Jopling, DDS · Answer

Your healing cap was probably tightened using finger pressure. If it would have been torqued with a torque wrench, it probably would not have come loose. It is usually not necessary to torque a healing abutment down. Since finger pressure tightening is not exact, this is probably what happened. If gum tissue has grown over the implant it will need to be removed before the healing abutment can be replaced. I would suggest having that done as soon as possible. Many times at surgical placement, we cover an implant with the gum tissue and later surgically expose the implant for restoration. In your case, however, the gum tissue will grow down into the implant since there is not a cover screw on it. This will make it more difficult to clean out the gum tissue at a later date. Douglas Jopling,  DDS Dallas,  Texas area

What are the causes that make an implant healing cap fall out - get unscrewed?

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What are the causes that make an implant healing cap fall out - get unscrewed?

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Everything you need to know about Dental Implants

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.