Chapter 06 • Question 8
Can a Failed Dental Implant Be Replaced?
📺 11:00 video📖 20 min read
Reviewed by Dr Tim Fleming
BDS – Dental Surgeon (GDC Reg: 83324)
Yes, failed dental implants can almost always be replaced with a success rate of 80-90% on the second attempt, provided the underlying cause of failure is identified and addressed. The replacement process involves removing the failed implant, treating any infection, placing a bone graft to rebuild lost bone, allowing 3-12 months healing, and then placing a new implant in the regenerated bone. Success depends critically on addressing why the first implant failed—quitting smoking if that was the cause, dramatically improving oral hygiene for peri-implantitis, controlling diabetes better, or choosing a more experienced surgeon.
💡 Key Takeaways
- Failed implants can almost always be replaced with 80-90% success on second attempts when the underlying failure cause is addressed
- Early failure replacements succeed at 85-95% while late failure replacements achieve 80-90%—both very good odds
- Success requires identifying and fixing the failure cause—quitting smoking, improving hygiene, controlling diabetes, or choosing better surgeon
- Timeline for replacement is 8-9 months for early failures and 14-15 months for late failures including healing, grafting, and new integration
- Bone grafting is usually necessary, costing £300-4,000 depending on extent, with 85-95% graft success before new implant placement
- Quitting smoking transforms outcomes from 70-85% success (smoking) to 90-95% (quit)—permanent cessation is non-negotiable for replacement
- Dramatically improved oral hygiene (electric brush, daily flossing, water flosser, 3-month professional cleanings) is essential for peri-implantitis failures
- Total replacement costs range £3,100-9,500 with no warranty coverage—first failure typically exhausted warranty protection
- Third attempts have 70-85% success and fourth attempts 60-75%—after two failures, seriously consider alternatives like bridges
- Alternative treatments include traditional bridges (£1,000-2,000, 90% success at 10 years) or partial dentures (£400-1,200, removable)
- More thorough assessment, more conservative surgical approach, and more intensive aftercare (3-month cleanings initially) improve second attempt success