Smoking and Dental Implants with and Without Bone Grafts

Question

How long after a patient quits smoking can implant treatment begin? 2 without bone grafting and 2 with.  Thanks for your time.

Herbert Veisman, DDS · Answer

Smoking has immediate effects on treatment. You can quite 5 minutes before surgery. As long as you don't smoke after surgery during the healing phase or thereafter, you should not have any of the deleterious effects of smoking.

Richard Champagne, DMD, MAGD · Answer

How long should wait to have implant procedures performed after quitting smoking?You'll be happy to hear that the answer is immediately!The real concern is for people who don't quit and continue to smoke immediately following the procedure.I hope you found this info to be helpful,Dr Champagne

Sean Mohtashami, DDS · Answer

You can begin dental treatment any time after smoking regardless of bone graft or no bone graft, however, 2 weeks is what is usually suggested. 
Congratulations on quitting!

Alina Krivitsky, DDS · Answer

Smoking can adversely affect the success of dental implants. It is protocol to quit smoking at least 2 weeks prior to implant placement, though longer periods of time can certainly be beneficial. 

	Please be aware, that formed smoking habits may have permanent damages to your tissues even after quitting.  That said, patient's who smoke still get dental implants.  However, your Board Certified Periodontist may choose longer healing periods and/or a conservative surgical approach.

David Cheng, DDS · Answer

To ensure proper healing following implant surgery, studies have shown that one must refrain from smoking for 2 weeks prior to surgery.

H. Ryan Kazemi, DMD · Answer

Smoking is clearly a risk factor and I advise my patients to avoid it at least a week before and then at least a month after any kind of oral surgery. While it can have adverse effects on health, oral health, and implant success whenever people smoke, I believe the most detrimental effect is during the healing phase. Once the implant is healed and functional, it may not be a significant factor. But this is largely unknown. My best advice is to protect your health and implants by stopping smoking all together.

Michael J. Thomas, DDS · Answer

The same goes for any surgery of course. Any surgeon will have you quit smoking before and after any surgical procedure to aid in the healing process. If you are spending a lot of money on the implants then why would you want to hinder their success. Quiting is very difficult but this could be a great incentive for you to quit.

M. Andrew Atwood, DDS · Answer

There are many things that contribute to implant failure and smoking is a big one.  The nice thing about smoking is that you can stop (and you should for other health reasons, but you should know that).  Diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and periodontitis lower the success rate also, but they can only be controlled and not stopped like smoking.
It is fine to have the implants placed even if you are smoking because some of them can still be successful, but you need to know that they might not integrate into the bone and you need to understand that it is your fault and not the provider placing the implant.  How successful is implant placement in a smoker?  In the past we have only done the studies on healthy people so we know they are largely successful on them.  
Many smokers have had implants placed and they were a success. Does that mean go ahead and have it placed without worrying about the consequences of it failing? The biggest thing I would worry about is that if the implant fails, you may have a defect in the bone making it extremely more difficult to place an implant in that same spot.

Anca Bazile, DDS · Answer

However studies show that stopping the smoking as little as two weeks in advance will possibly decrease the negative effects. On the other hand, it does take up to 5 years to eliminate all the nicotine which taken in from smoking. Thus, there is no definite answer, as long as you understand that the percentage of success is reduced than the success in non smokers.

Lance Timmerman, DMD, MAGD - Account Suspended · Answer

I would say if a person stopped smoking then go ahead and place the implants.  Smoking negatively affects blood flow to the bone and tissues surrounding the gums and teeth, which impairs bone healing.   
I would tell a smoker to quit for 1 month prior to implant placement and to not start back smoking until they are healed.  No one stage placement or immediates.  Bury implant for healing and place extra implants in arch, eg., if you planned on 6 then place 8.  If patient is a heavy smoker, all bets off.

Smoking and Dental Implants with and Without Bone Grafts

Answers (10)

More Dental Implants Questions

WE SEND PRETTY
EMAILS

Answers (10)

More Dental Implants Questions

What kind of downtime can I except for dental implants? How long before I can eat and will there be a lot of pain?

WE SEND PRETTY EMAILS

WE SEND PRETTY
EMAILS