I Can Smell My Husband’s Dental Implants

My husband had four dental implants placed in his lower jaw. He has a temporary acrylic denture and is scheduled to get a porcelain one soon. I’m worried that the implants in his jaw are having some kind of reaction because I can smell something awful whenever I am near his mouth. The implants are metal so I’m picturing all type of horrible things happening to his jaw. I think his dentist needs to switch them out for the non-metal implants. His dentist thinks I’m crazy. My husband can’t smell it and doesn’t want to make the dentist angry. What should I do?

Francine

Dear Francine,

I can tell that you have a great deal of love and care for your husband. I have a suspicion for what is going on and I do believe you can smell something, but I do not think it is the dental implants. Here’s why.

Titanium, which is the metal used in dental implants, are very inert. Even when exposed to the air, they do not give off a smell. Your dentist probably has some in the office that he’d let you smell. These are implanted deep into his bone, which makes it even less likely that you can smell them. Titanium has also been used as a prosthetic, such as hip replacements, dental implants, and more for many decades and have been found to be very biocompatible.

Switching out the implants for his implant overdentures is not as easy as taking out the titanium ones and replacing them with zirconia ones. A surgical procedure is required to remove them. During that procedure bone will be taken with it. That in turn requires another surgery known as bone grafting to build back up the bones. Then, he’ll need a third additional surgery to place the new implants. It’s a big deal to do all of this. It would be hard on your husband, and at every stage there is risk of failure.

So what is it you are smelling? My thought is that it is probably food and other bacteria getting trapped in his temporary denture. I would get something like a Waterpik, which can help him get into those nooks and crannies and allow him to get out everything that is trapped there. I’d start with that, which is much less invasive and expensive.

This blog is brought to you by Nashville Dentist Dr. David Wickness.