Webinar: Vitamin D Deficiency and Dental Implant Failure: What Every Clinician Needs to Know

Dental implants are generally considered a safe and highly predictable surgical procedure performed by many clinicians with the aim of replacing missing teeth. Yet to this day, a number of implants placed in adequate bone volume are lost each year within a 2-8 week period following implant placement for yet explained reasons. As society continues to consume lower quality foods and rely more heavily on fast foods, a large percentage of today’s population is increasing demonstrating vitamin deficiency upon testing owing to this lack of nutritional intake.

These deficiencies are even more pronounced in the aging population where a greater percentage of dental implants are placed. Unfortunately, one of the most prominent deficiencies known to mankind is that of vitamin D, a water-soluble vitamin critical for proper immune function as well as bone homeostasis. Over the past decade, vitamin D deficiency has been observed in ~70% of the population and particularly in post-menopausal osteoporotic women where vitamin D is commonly prescribed (with various co-factors such as vitamin K) with the aim of further optimizing bone density and halting disease progression. Interestingly, recent dental implant studies have found that while smoking and generalized periodontitis is generally associated with a ~50%-200% increase in dental implant failure, studies have more recently shown that vitamin D deficiency is associated with up to a 300% increase in early implant failure.

These shocking findings further highlight the fact that systemic health, including adequate vitamins and minerals, play a critical role in biomaterial/dental implant integration.