Dental Treatments after Jawline Implant

Q: Dr. Eppley, When is it ok to go to the dentist for a deep cleaning and root planning after my custom jawline implant ? And should I tell them about the jawline implant?

A: Dental treatments in the patient with certain types of facial implants (cheek, paranasal and chin and jawline implants) pose issues that make telling your dentist that such implants exist. If screw fixation was used with the implants these will be visible in some dental x-rays. (e.g., panorex) The need to perform local anesthetic injections into the tissues overlying the implants is the most significant consideration.

A deep dental cleaning should not be done for three months after the facial implant procedure. If they are going to perform any local anesthetic injections, whether it is for cleaning or other dental treatments, they need to the aware that an implant exists along the jawline. Inadvertent needle penetration into the implant’s capsule has a high risk of causing an infection. The needs can track bacteria from the mouth into the implant’s surface. Fortunately local anesthetic injections can still be successfully done with some modifications (avoiding deep injections down to the bone) when a complete jawline implant exists.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana