A titanium bolt, a connecting abutment also made of titanium (or stainless steel), and a heat-cured porcelain dental crown (or a metal crown)—the three primary components of a dental implant sure sound strong, don't they? Still, you might wonder if it's possible for you to actually break your dental implant. You can safely consider it to be so unlikely that it's practically impossible, but you'll still want to avoid any potential damage.

Excessive Pressure

While it won't break the implant as such, dental implants can fail when they're subjected to too much pressure while they're integrating with your jaw. Once the titanium bolt has been inserted, your body begins a process known as osseointegration. This involves your jawbone and the surrounding soft tissues fusing to the implant. When too much pressure is exerted on the site, the implant can shift, meaning it cannot be finished with the application of the dental crown. You might be given a temporary prosthetic tooth during the osseointegration process, and it's crucial that you don't treat this like a natural tooth. You can't properly chew with this tooth, and a soft diet can be advisable.

Biting Too Hard

Once the implant has been finished with a permanent crown, can you accidentally break it by applying too much pressure? If you think about it, you might not even be able to accurately gauge bite pressure with the implant since it doesn't have any nerve endings as a natural tooth does. But your body will be able to notify you of excessive pressure, nerve endings or not. Researchers at a British university discovered that the jaw has an additional feedback mechanism beyond its nerve endings. This prevents you from injuring yourself (and damaging your implant) by biting down too hard.

The Dental Crown

The most likely breakage with a dental implant is the crown portion. This could be damaged by biting down on something inappropriate (like using your teeth to open packaging or a bottle), or by an accident that involved trauma to your mouth. The crown could become chipped, or even fractured. Get to your dentist as soon as possible. The crown will need to be replaced, and the other components of the implant will also need to be checked to make sure they're still in good working order. 

Your dental implants are incredibly strong, but they're not invulnerable and require care to prevent them from becoming damaged.

To learn more, reach out to a company like Apollo Dental Center.