loose dental implant

[Nick01]

hi

I had a top front tooth implant placed four years ago in Hungary and over the last week the implant feels loose and feels like the implant might be coming out. I dont know what can be done when a loose implant. Is there a way that the implant can be tightened up again? I really hope that the implant can be repaired because I was expecting this implant to last a lot longer than it has. How many years are dental implants supposed to last and is it normal that this one has only lasted four years? Please help.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

There are a few different possibilities here. Either the crown is loose and if its a cement retained crown, the crown can be recemented easily. Also it could be the abutment screw is loose, in which case the abutment screw can be tightened. If the dental implant itself is loose, that could be due to bone loss around the implant due to peri-implantitis and that is the most difficult to treat. If the bone loss is very advanced, the implant may have to be removed.