Can Dental Implants Cause Bad Breath?

Everything You Need to Know About the Effect of Dental Implants on Bad Breath.

If Someone Told You That You Had Bad Breath, Should You Take That Personally?

We’re not talking about when you’ve had lunch with lots of garlic and onion in it and then suddenly your breath stinks. What we mean is halitosis or chronic bad breath. It’s a complex issue and we need to find out the source of the problem.

What are the Effects of Dental Implants on Bad Breath?

Before we answer this important question, let’s review the most common causes of bad breath. The odor itself can differentiate and how it smells can help us formulate a diagnosis of its source. If we review studies from reputable dental journals published on PubMed, and those from the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic, we can conclude that 90% of bad breath is caused by oral disease. This includes gum disease, dental infection, dry mouth, different tongue anatomy and poor oral hygiene. Other causes for bad breath include respiratory infection, GERD and uncontrolled diabetes. Contributing factors can also include fasting and liver or kidney disease.

Different Sources, Different Odors

Not all breath smells the same and each different smell can actually lead us to a diagnosis of where that smell is coming from. Let’s review what each smell can mean.

• Sweet or fruity smell: managed diabetes or a low carb diet.
• Nail polish or acetone smell: uncontrolled diabetes.
• Rotten or garbage smell: oral infection, respiratory disease or poor oral hygiene.
• Sulfur smell: mouth bacteria breaking down food debris from between teeth or more noticeably, the back of the tongue.
• Sour smell: GERD or gastrointestinal reflux disease.
• Feces smell: usually gastrointestinal in origin – can be indicative of bloating or constipation.
• Ammonia smell: can be indicative of kidney disease.
• Musty smell: can be indicative of liver disease.

How Do Dental Implants Effect Your Breath?

Full mouth dental implants, and individual dental implants can effect your breath both positively and negatively. The positives come from having an implant to replace your missing teeth. The increase in dental biting surfaces mean you can eat a better variety of foods and improve your diet. The implants also eliminate space between your teeth so food won’t get caught between them.

Conversely, dental implants can have a negative impact on your breath by becoming infected. Implants can become infected just like your natural teeth and the bacteria can lead to bad breath. Also, the prothesis that sits atop the implant can be poorly designed, with excess space between the implant and the gum, allowing more food debris to be caught between the teeth.

One important factor for the impact of dental implants on your breath is whether the tooth restoration is made from acrylic. We generally use acrylic for removable partial dentures, not permanent restorations. When acrylic is in the mouth the surface gets rough to the touch and can collect bacteria and food debris, causing bad odor.

Please call Obeid Dental at (301) 652-9505 if you have any questions or to schedule an appointment. We serve the Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, Potomac, MD and Washington D.C. areas.