Repair for Damaged Implant Restorations
Something on your implant restoration has failed. Maybe a crown came loose. Maybe a tooth chipped off your All-on-4 bridge. Maybe the whole thing clicks when you chew and you are not sure why. Whatever happened, you need someone who understands implant components, not just teeth.
Andresen Prosthodontics in Reno handles implant prosthetic repair as a specialty service. Drs. Craig and Allison Andresen are board certified prosthodontists, which means implant restorations, their components and their failure modes are their specific area of expertise. We also maintain an in-house dental laboratory, so many repairs are completed here rather than being shipped away for a week.
We repair implant restorations we made, and we repair implant restorations made elsewhere.
Implant Prosthetic Problems We Repair
- Loose implant crown or bridge. Usually caused by a loosened abutment screw rather than a failure of the implant itself. This is fixable and should be addressed quickly, because a restoration left loose puts damaging stress on the screw and the implant connection.
- Chipped or fractured prosthetic teeth. Common on acrylic hybrid full-arch prostheses. Individual teeth can frequently be replaced or the surface rebuilt without remaking the entire prosthesis.
- Fractured framework or bar. More serious and requires evaluation of why it broke. Often related to bite force distribution, insufficient framework thickness or missing implant support.
- Worn or broken attachment components. Locator inserts, O-rings and housings on implant overdentures and retained partials wear out with use and are replaced routinely.
- Cracked or broken implant overdenture. Acrylic fractures in overdentures are frequently repairable, though a repeated fracture in the same location signals a design or support problem that needs correcting rather than just repairing.
- Open contacts and food impaction. Teeth adjacent to an implant restoration can drift over years, opening a gap that traps food. This is correctable.
- Exposed metal or receding tissue at the margin. Both an esthetic and a hygiene concern, addressed based on the underlying cause.
- Damaged or stripped abutment screw. See our page on implant screw retrieval and mechanical rescue for these cases.
Why a Prosthodontist for Implant Repair?
Implant repair is not generic dentistry. There are dozens of implant systems on the market, each with proprietary connections, screw types, torque specifications and drivers. A component from one system will not work in another. Using the wrong driver or the wrong torque can turn a small repair into a fractured screw inside the implant.
A prosthodontist is trained to identify the implant system, source the correct component, apply the correct torque value and diagnose the underlying reason the restoration failed. That last point matters most. A crown that keeps loosening is telling you something about the bite, the screw or the implant. Retightening it without diagnosing why solves nothing.
If you do not know what brand of implant you have or who placed it, that is not a problem. We can often identify the system from a radiograph and the visible components.
What to Do If Your Implant Restoration Breaks
- Keep any pieces. If a crown, a tooth or a component comes off, save it and bring it with you. It helps us identify the system and may be reusable.
- Do not force it back on. Reseating a loose restoration incorrectly can damage the connection or drive debris into the implant.
- Stop chewing on that side. Continuing to load a compromised restoration is how a repairable problem becomes a replacement.
- Call promptly. A loose screw caught early is a simple retorque. A loose screw left for months can fracture inside the implant and become a much more involved procedure.
- Bring any records you have. If you know the implant brand, have old x-rays, or have paperwork from the original treatment, bring it. If you have none of it, come anyway.
Get Your Implant Restoration Repaired in Reno
If your implant crown is loose, your implant bridge is broken, or a tooth has chipped off your full-arch prosthesis, our prosthodontists can evaluate it and tell you what it will take to fix it properly.
Call 775-323-3574 to schedule a consultation. Our office is at 1601 Lakeside Dr in Reno, serving Reno, Sparks and northern Nevada. We welcome patients whose implants were placed or restored by another provider.
Frequently Asked Questions About Implant Prosthetic Repair
New Patients Appointment Welcome!
