Your initial dental implant consultation helps to determine your suitability for the procedure. Fortunately, there are a few reasons why an implant would be inadvisable. Keeping this in mind, your dentist will ask you a range of health questions, including if you're affected by diabetes. This will affect your dental implant but certainly doesn't have to prevent it from happening.

Same Day Implants

There's one implant that your dentist may immediately rule out, and this is a same-day implant. This is when the implant (a small titanium screw embedded in your jawbone) and its prosthetic tooth are placed in the same appointment. Ordinarily, the implant is placed and the bone is allowed to heal. Only once this has occurred is the prosthetic tooth attached. Same-day implants are only suitable for patients whose immune system won't prevent implant integration—and this is relevant to diabetic patients, as any wounds typically heal slower than a patient unaffected by diabetes.

Adequate Healing Time

Disregarding the possibility of a same-day implant, your diabetes shouldn't prevent you from receiving a traditional single-tooth implant, with the process scheduled to allow adequate healing time between the key procedures (implant surgery and prosthetic tooth placement). Due to your body's reduced ability to heal wounds, your dentist must be sure that implant integration (formally known as osseointegration) has been successful before attaching the porcelain prosthetic tooth.

Successful Integration

This delayed loading (with the load in question being the bite pressure the tooth will experience) permits successful integration between the implant and the bone surrounding it. Your progress will be monitored, and the required time for successful osseointegration varies from patient to patient—although you can expect it to take anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks, and some cases may take even longer. A temporary prosthetic tooth can be attached in the meantime, so you won't have a gap in your smile during osseointegration. This will not be a load-bearing tooth, so you must be mindful while eating. 

Other Considerations

There are some other things to be mindful of as a diabetic receiving a dental implant:

• Your diabetes must be well-managed in order to qualify for dental implant surgery. Your blood glucose levels may be assessed. If needed, you may be referred back to your physician to improve your diabetes management before your surgery can be scheduled.
• Implant surgery inevitability releases some oral bacteria into your bloodstream. To boost your immune system, you may be given a course of pre-operative antibiotics. You must complete the course and follow all other relevant instructions.

There are a number of considerations specific to diabetes when it comes to getting a dental implant, but rest assured—these shouldn't stop you from getting your implant.

Contact a local dentist to learn more about getting a dental implant consultation.