How long do dental implants last?
A dental implant post can often last a lifetime with care, but the crown on it may need replacing at around 15 years. In one review, an estimated 89.4% of single implant crowns survived ten years. Smoking, poorly controlled diabetes, a history of gum disease, grinding, and poor cleaning all shorten an implant’s life.
The post, the crown and what sits on top wear differently
The post is titanium, and the bone bonds with it; that bond is what makes the implant a strong foundation. Implants don’t get cavities, so what threatens the post is the gum and bone around it. In a 2012 review of 46 studies with a mean follow-up of at least five years, 95.2% of single implants survived ten years, while the crowns on them survived at 89.4%, the same crown figure as a 2007 review.
Survival means the implant is still in the mouth, not that it has been trouble-free. A 2019 review of 18 prospective studies of modern implants put ten-year survival at 96.4%, or 93.2% once patients lost to follow-up were accounted for, and that adjusted estimate fell to 91.5% for people 65 and over.
The crown is the part you chew on, and it carries the technical problems. Over five years, the 2012 review found screws loosened under 8.8% of single implant crowns, 4.1% lost retention and came loose, and 3.5% had their veneering layer fracture. Cleveland Clinic says most crowns and bridges on implants last around 15 years before the restoration needs replacing.
Dentures on implants follow the same split. With two implants in the lower jaw, a denture snaps on and is more stable while chewing, and four to six implants joined by a custom bar hold an implant-retained denture more firmly still. The denture is the wearing part: Cleveland Clinic says most last at least seven years.
Why implants fail early or late
Early failure means the bone never bonds to the implant, so it falls in the three to six months the implant sits beneath the gum, before the replacement teeth go on. A review of its causes names poor initial stability, surgical trauma, and infection. In the files of 2,765 randomly selected Swedish patients treated in 2003, 1.4% of implants (in 4.4% of patients) were lost this way, with higher odds in smokers and people diagnosed with periodontitis.
Late failure is the loss of an implant that had bonded and was in use, and overload from biting forces and peri-implantitis are its main causes. In the same Swedish study, 2.0% of implants (in 4.2% of patients) examined nine years after treatment had been lost late.
Peri-implantitis usually starts as peri-implant mucositis, inflammation of the gum around the implant with no bone loss, which the AAP says may be reversed if caught early. Peri-implantitis adds loss of the bone supporting the implant and usually needs surgical treatment. Plaque drives both, and an AO/AAP review of 102 studies found mucositis in 46% of implant patients and peri-implantitis in 21%.
What shortens an implant’s life
Each factor below raises the odds of implant loss or peri-implantitis. Most of the figures come from pooled observational studies with uncontrolled confounding, so read them as raised odds across many patients, not a forecast for you.
| Risk factor | What it does | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Smoking | Across 107 studies, 6.35% of implants in smokers failed against 3.18% in non-smokers, with more infection after surgery and more bone loss. Smokers also had higher odds of early loss in the Swedish sample. | Chrcanovic et al. 2015; Derks et al. 2015 |
| Poorly controlled diabetes | Impairs the bone’s bond to the implant and raises peri-implantitis risk, about 50% higher with diabetes in one review. With diabetes well controlled, complication rates were similar to people without it. | Naujokat et al. 2016; Monje et al. 2017 |
| A history of periodontitis | Strong evidence links it to peri-implantitis, and an initial periodontitis diagnosis raised the odds of early implant loss in the Swedish sample. | Schwarz et al. 2018; Derks et al. 2015 |
| Grinding or clenching | Across 27 studies, implants in probable grinders had about twice the odds of failing (odds ratio 2.19). | Häggman-Henrikson et al. 2024 |
| Poor cleaning and no maintenance | Plaque causes peri-implant mucositis, and strong evidence ties poor plaque control and no regular maintenance care after treatment to peri-implantitis. | Berglundh et al. 2018; Schwarz et al. 2018 |
What keeps an implant healthy for decades?
Before treatment, your evaluation is a dental and x-ray examination and a review of your health history. Tell us there if you smoke, grind your teeth, have diabetes, or have had gum disease, since each changes the odds in the table above. Dr. Priti Bhat, DDS, makes the replacement teeth that go on your implants.
At home, the AAP says brushing and flossing are still necessary to keep an implant plaque-free. A 2024 review of implant maintenance names floss and interdental brushes as the standard for cleaning between implants, recommends twice-daily brushing, and finds water flossers useful around implants that hold overdentures. Use floss gently near any exposed implant threads, where its fibers can be left behind and inflame the gum.
We recommend a cleaning twice a year as a preventive measure. If you have periodontitis, it should be every three to four months, alongside the daily brushing, flossing, and regular exams that periodontal maintenance depends on.
Signs an implant needs to be checked
The AAP lists red or tender gums around the implant, or bleeding when you brush. Cleveland Clinic adds swollen gums, pus around the implant, a loose or wobbly implant, and fever or swollen lymph nodes in your neck alongside any of these. Gum that has receded around the implant is a sign of peri-implantitis in the 2017 consensus, and a crown that moves can mean a loosened screw or lost retention.
If you are still choosing a treatment, dental implant or bridge compares the two for one missing tooth. The dental implants page sets out the two stages of treatment and the evaluation that starts them.
Related treatments
General information, not dental advice. What is right for you depends on an examination.