If you’re seeking a long-lasting and reliable restoration to replace missing teeth, you may benefit from dental implants. Many experts consider them the ideal way to rebuild your smile because of their many unique benefits. They’re the only prosthetics embedded in your jaw for additional strength and security.
However, that doesn’t mean they’re invincible. Your dental implants can fail under certain conditions, like if you’re vitamin D deficient. Continue reading to learn more about how this essential nutrient supports your dental implants!
What Is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D, sometimes referred to as calciferol, is a naturally occurring, fat-soluble vitamin that can be found in certain foods. It’s essential to your dental and general well-being because it helps your body absorb calcium and phosphorus from the foods you eat to support healthy bones and teeth. It also supports your immune system, muscle tissues, and brain health. People who are deficient in vitamin D can develop frail, brittle, or misshapen bones or osteoporosis.
How Does Vitamin D Impact My Dental Implant?
Dental implants usually have an incredibly high success rate of more than 90%, meaning that you shouldn’t have any adverse effects after your surgery as long as you follow your dentist’s post-op orders carefully. This resilience is primarily because they’re the only replacement teeth that involve surgically embedding a titanium rod into your jawbone as a support.
It can take anywhere from three to six months to recover from this procedure because that’s how long it takes your mouth to complete a process called osseointegration. The pole of your prosthetic stimulates new bone growth in your jaw with every bite until, eventually, enough material is created to envelop and fuse with the metallic material.
That means before you can proceed with implants, your provider must verify whether you have sufficient jawbone density to support them. Patients without enough vitamin D might not have a strong enough foundation to move forward and are less likely to recover successfully afterward.
How Can I Boost My Vitamin D Levels?
Thankfully, a simple blood test can reveal whether or not you have enough vitamin D, and if you don’t, there’s no reason for panic! It’s relatively easy to increase your levels. The most effective method may simply be to take a walk on a sunny day. Exposing your skin to sunlight for about 15 to 20 minutes during peak hours on a bright day can give you all the vitamin D you need.
Otherwise, you can consume it in supplement form or in fatty fish, eggs, and some fortified foods like yogurt, cereal, and milk.
Now that you understand the significance of maintaining your vitamin D levels, you can make adjustments to your daily routine to support your dental implants!
Meet the Author
Dr. Diep takes pride in helping people of all ages build and maintain healthy, beautiful smiles. He earned his dental degree from Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ, and stays current with the latest dental technology and techniques through his active membership with the California Dental Association. He provides a wide array of services to conveniently meet all your and your family’s needs at one location, including dental implants. He partners with the best local surgeons for accurate placement, then provides a lifelike restoration intended to last. You can request an appointment on the website or call (510) 314-8426.