Dental implants in Rugby · the honest guide
Can dental implants fail? Signs, causes, and what we do about it
Written by Dr Savan Zala, implant dentist at Rugby Smiles (BDS, MFGDP RCSEng, MSc Dental Implants) · Reviewed September 2026
The short answer: yes, a small number do, and it helps to know how. Across the profession around two to three in every hundred implants fail, most of them early, when the implant simply does not fuse with the bone. Late failures, years on, are almost always gum disease around the implant, and those are the ones daily cleaning and hygiene visits prevent.
Nobody selling implants likes this question, which is exactly why it deserves a straight answer. Here is what failure actually looks like, why it happens, what I do when it happens to one of mine, and the handful of habits that decide whether an implant lasts five years or thirty.
Not sure which route fits? Take the 60-second implant options quiz first.
How often implants fail
The figure quoted across the research is a success rate of around 95 to 98 per cent over ten years for implants placed in healthy patients, which is better than almost any other treatment in dentistry. The failures cluster in two groups. Early failures happen in the first few months, before or just after the crown goes on, when the bone has not fused to the implant. Late failures happen years later and are nearly always infection in the gum and bone around the implant.
At Rugby Smiles, implant treatment is led by dentists with dedicated implant training who have placed well over a hundred implants at the practice in the last two years. What that experience teaches is that failures are rarely random. They usually have a reason, and most of the reasons can be seen on the scan or in the history before anything is placed.
Early failure: what it looks like
- Tenderness that does not settle after the first couple of weeks, or comes back
- An implant that feels slightly loose, or a healing cap that moves
- Swelling or a discharge from the gum around the site
- Pain on biting once a temporary or crown is fitted
The usual causes are infection in the socket, bone that was thinner or softer than expected, smoking, an implant loaded too early, or, occasionally, no reason anyone can find. If an implant of mine has not integrated, the answer is straightforward: it comes out, which is a small procedure, the site heals for a few months, and we place again, often with a graft to improve the bone. The terms for that are set out in your written plan before you start, so you are not negotiating at the worst moment.
Late failure: the one you can prevent
An implant cannot decay, but the gum and bone around it can be lost to infection exactly as they can around a natural tooth. The condition is called peri-implantitis. It starts as bleeding when you clean around the implant, then the gum recedes, then bone is lost on the X-ray, and eventually the implant loosens. It is slow, it is usually painless until late, and it is the reason we insist on hygiene visits after implants rather than treating them as optional.
Daily
Brush twice with a soft brush. Clean between the implant and its neighbours every day with interdental brushes or floss made for implants. Ordinary floss can shred and leave fibres; the right tool matters.
Every six months
A hygiene visit with Airflow, £92, where the hygienist cleans around the implant with instruments that do not scratch it and checks the gum. Three-monthly if you have had gum disease.
Every year or two
An X-ray of the implant so bone levels are tracked. Bone loss caught early can be treated; bone loss found late usually cannot.
The causes you control
Smoking is the biggest. It roughly doubles the failure rate and slows healing, which is why we ask people to stop before and after placement and are honest with heavy smokers about the odds. Untreated gum disease is second, because bacteria that have already cost you teeth will do the same to an implant. Grinding, if unmanaged, can overload implants and is usually answered with a night guard. Uncontrolled diabetes slows healing. None of these is an automatic no. They are things to sort out first.
What we do if one fails
Early failure: remove, heal, replace, usually with a graft (£400) if the bone needs it. Late failure caught early: clean the infection out, treat the gum, and keep the implant. Late failure caught late: sometimes the implant is lost and the question becomes what replaces it, which may be another implant after grafting or a different design such as a bridge. What we will not do is pretend it is not happening. The plan and the price for any of these are written down before you agree to anything. Read how the whole route works on our dental implants in Rugby page, and what it costs in the implant cost guide.
“An implant that is failing early is a problem I can fix. An implant nobody has looked at for five years is the one that worries me.”
Dr Savan Zala, implant dentist at Rugby Smiles
Questions people ask
What are the first signs of a failing implant?
Tenderness that persists or returns, a feeling of looseness, bleeding or discharge from the gum around it, or pain on biting. Any of these is a reason to be seen, and most turn out to be treatable.
Can a failed dental implant be replaced?
Usually yes. The implant is removed, the site heals for a few months, often with a graft, and a new implant is placed. The terms for replacement are in your written plan.
Do implants fail more in smokers?
Yes, roughly twice as often, and healing is slower. It is the single biggest risk you control.
How long do dental implants last?
Well-maintained implants routinely last fifteen years and often far longer. The crown on top may need renewing sooner, which is normal wear rather than failure.
Can gum disease affect implants?
Yes. Peri-implantitis is gum disease around an implant and is the main cause of late failure. Daily cleaning and hygiene visits prevent most of it.
Is a loose implant crown the same as a failed implant?
No. A loose crown is usually a loose screw and is tightened or replaced in one visit. A loose implant is the fixture itself moving and needs assessment.
The scan shows the risks before we start. The plan says what happens if one appears.
The free implant consultation is a conversation and a 3D scan, nothing done to you on the day: your options, whether grafting is needed, and a written price before anything is booked. Nervous? Tell us, and we will build sedation into the plan.
Read next: am I suitable? · do implants hurt? · how long they take · dental implants in Rugby · Rugby Smiles Dental Clinic · 3 Newbold Road, Rugby CV21 2LQ · 01788 579 577