Failed Dental Implant Replacement & Rescue in Fremont & San Francisco

Warning signs worth acting on: pain or tenderness around an implant that had been comfortable, any perceptible movement, gums that bleed or swell around it, a crown that loosens repeatedly, receding gum exposing metal, or a bad taste that keeps returning. Some failing implants are silent — which is why persistent 'something feels off' deserves imaging, not reassurance. A CBCT scan settles the question in minutes, and ours is free.

Usually not — and the difference is everything. A loose crown or abutment screw is common, mechanical, and often fixed in a single visit. A loose implant body means the bone connection itself has failed, which is a different conversation entirely. From the outside they can feel identical; on a 3D scan they look nothing alike. Don't let anyone — including the internet — diagnose the difference without imaging.

Peri-implantitis is a bacterial infection in the gum and bone around an implant — similar to gum disease, but around a post instead of a natural root. Left alone, it slowly destroys the bone that holds the implant in place. Caught early, it's usually treatable with a deep cleaning and targeted therapy; caught late, it can cost you the implant. The hard part is that it's often preventable with routine maintenance checkups — the kind of follow-up that surgery-only clinics rarely offer. We include that maintenance for the life of your implant.

Usually, yes. Depending on what the scan shows, the path may be removing the failed implant, cleaning and grafting the site, then placing a new implant once the foundation heals — or occasionally placing a new implant in adjacent solid bone immediately. Where bone loss is severe, zygomatic implants anchored in the cheekbone can carry teeth the jaw no longer can. Failure is a setback, not a verdict.

Yes — it's a regular part of our week, not an exception we make. Dr. Jain also offers second-opinion consultations by video during regular office hours, so you can be heard before you ever drive anywhere. Bring whatever records you have (we'll work with your scan history, but our own free CBCT tells us most of what we need). You'll get a plain-language diagnosis of what went wrong, every reasonable option with its honest odds, and an itemized cost in writing. No lectures about your last dentist, and no obligation to fix it here.

The common culprits, in rough order: infection (including untreated gum disease), too few implants carrying too much load — the long-cantilever problem baked into some cut-rate full-arch models — imprecise freehand placement into weak bone, smoking during healing, and poorly fitting outsourced parts that trap bacteria or concentrate stress. Notice the pattern: most failures are planning failures. It's why everything we place starts with a CT scan and ends with lifetime follow-up.

Gladly, and you don't need to be our patient for it. Bring the written quote or treatment plan to a free consultation and we'll walk through it line by line: what's actually included, what tends to get added later, whether the implant count fits your bone, and what the same treatment would cost here — itemized, in writing, against our own quote for the same plan. Sometimes the honest answer is that the other plan is sound; you'll hear that too. A second opinion before surgery costs you an hour. The wrong plan can cost you bone.

Both, and treatment comes first whenever the implant can be saved. Peri-implantitis — infection and bone loss around an implant — is graded from the 3D scan and a probing exam. Early cases are treated by cleaning and decontaminating the implant surface, controlling the infection and correcting whatever let it start, from a poorly fitting crown to a bite that overloads one implant. Where bone has been lost, regenerative grafting around the implant can rebuild support; where the gum has thinned, gum grafting protects it. Removal and replacement is the last step, not the first, and when it is needed the new implant is planned with the reason for the first failure written into the plan. The peri-implantitis treatment guide explains each stage and what to expect at the visit.

Failing implants are treated by periodontists, oral surgeons and implant-focused dentists alike; implant dentistry is not one of the recognized dental specialties, so the title on the door tells you less than the case history does. What matters is who diagnoses the cause, who does the surgery and the lab work, and who answers when something is not right afterwards. Here the same two doctors who have placed and rescued implants since 2008 read your scan, perform any grafting or replacement themselves, and restore the tooth in the in-house lab — one team accountable for the whole result. If your case needs a physician's input, for instance around diabetes or medications that affect healing, we coordinate with your doctor rather than sending you elsewhere.