The Role of Vitamin D in Dental Implant Success

If you’ve just gotten dental implants, your dentist may have said they’re likely to work. After all, implant placement has a staggering success rate of 95 percent! Still, you may want to improve your odds even further. In that case, you’d be wise to get plenty of vitamin D. This micronutrient can make your recovery smoother and your replacement teeth more successful in the long term. To learn more, here’s a summary of how implants benefit from vitamin D by your Owings Mills dentist.

How Does Vitamin D Help?

Vitamin D is one of several nutrients that improves your body’s health. In doing so, it helps your implants by:

Improving Osseointegration

Chances are that you know vitamin D promotes healthy bones. It lets you absorb calcium, which allows your body to grow and strengthen bone tissue.

As it turns out, bone growth helps your implants fuse with your jawbone. That’s very important, as the fusion process — also known as osseointegration — is essential to successful treatment. Without it, your replacement teeth won’t become a firm, secure part of your jawbone.

Reducing the Chance of Infection

Vitamin D also has the effect of regulating your immune system. Its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant traits support immune health, muscle function, and even brain cell activity.

By thus boosting your immune health, vitamin D makes post-treatment gum infections less likely. Implants don’t stand a chance of lasting without healthy gums, so it’s ultimately very helpful post-procedure.

Tips on Getting Vitamin D

Fortunately, it isn’t that hard to increase your body’s vitamin D levels. You can do so by following the tips below:

• Sun Yourself  – The more sunlight you receive, the more vitamin D your body produces. That said, try getting some sunshine for around 20 minutes a day.
• Eat a Vitamin-Rich Diet – You could get more vitamin D by eating foods like salmon, egg yolks, mushrooms, and cod liver oil.
• Take a Daily Supplement – A regular supplement from a trusted brand could also work to improve vitamin D levels.

Of course, the best way to maintain your implants is by caring for them with good oral hygiene. Still, raising your vitamin D levels certainly won’t hurt things!

About the Author

Dr. Jacob Milner is a dentist in Owings Mills, MD. His specialties include preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, as well as emergency dental treatments. He’s also trained in dental sleep medicine, sleep apnea therapy, and Invisalign clear aligners. As such, he can meet smile needs ranging from standard checkups and cleanings to placing dental implants. Dr. Milner currently practices at Dolfield Dental and is reachable at his website or by phone at (410)-902-4110.