Strong but Stained: What to Do When Your Dental Implants Are Stained by Smoking
Posted on: 18 September 2017
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The downside to dental implants when it comes to smoking is that, eventually, your smoking habit will lead to staining. Porcelain restorations such as the crown attached to your dental implant are extremely stain resistant. However, they do pick up surface stains, two of the worst staining culprits being cigarettes and coffee. This leads to two common dental issues.
On the one hand, smoking stains affect your natural teeth and this causes them to become darker than your dental implant. On the other hand, your dental implant may darken over time due to the constant exposure to cigarette smoke. When this happens, naturally, you might consider whitening. However, whitening and implants generally don't mix.
The Crown Can Be Polished and Cleaned
Porcelain is not porous like natural teeth; therefore, stains cannot penetrate it like they do enamel. Stains can, however, build up on porcelain. If this happens, you can visit your dentist or oral hygienist and have them polish or clean it to remove the staining.
However, this could be an issue if your natural teeth are severely stained by cigarette smoke. Your dental crown and teeth will no longer match. At this point, you could whiten your natural teeth, but whitening can sometimes be unpredictable. In this case, if your newly whitened teeth don't match your implant crown, then replacing the dental crown with one of a similar colour is your only option.
Go for a Dental Cleaning Every 3 Months
If you smoke regularly, it won't be long before your teeth and dental crown become stained. However, because dental crowns don't stain as easily as natural teeth, your teeth will eventually darken, causing your dental crown to stand out. To avoid this issue, as well as practicing excellent oral hygiene, visit your dental office for a cleaning every 3 months.
Having your teeth cleaned regularly is more advisable than whitening once your porcelain crown is in place. Whitening should always be done before crown placement to ensure that the crown can be made to match your natural teeth. Thus, in order to avoid the eventuality that your crown no longer matches your natural teeth, make sure you have your teeth cleaned every 3 months.
Smoking doesn't just stain. It also reduces your body's capability of fighting infection, putting you at greater risk of gum disease, which may then lead to peri-implantitis--or implant failure. If you plan on getting more dental implants in future, consider quitting smoking beforehand to avoid the issues mentioned in this article.