Peri-implantitis: catching a failing implant early.
Dental implants are highly successful, but the tissues around them can become diseased — just as natural teeth can. Peri-implantitis is inflammation with progressive bone loss around an implant. Caught early it can often be controlled; left late, the implant is lost.
What it is
Gum disease, around an implant.
Peri-implant disease runs on a spectrum. Peri-implant mucositis is reversible inflammation of the soft tissue, with no bone loss. Peri-implantitis is the more advanced stage, where the bone supporting the implant is progressively lost. The biology echoes periodontitis around natural teeth — which is why a periodontist is the appropriate specialist to manage it.
Warning signs
What to watch for — for patients and dentists.
The signs include bleeding or pus around the implant, redness or swelling of the surrounding gum, deepening pockets, and — on radiographs — loss of the bone that holds the implant. A loose implant is a late and serious sign. Because early peri-implantitis is often painless, monitoring at maintenance visits is how it is usually caught.
How it is treated
Stabilise the tissue, stop the bone loss.
Treatment aims to remove the bacterial biofilm from the implant surface, resolve the inflammation, and halt further bone loss — non-surgically where possible, surgically where access or regeneration is needed. Long-term stability then depends on a structured maintenance programme. Both doctors are specialists in periodontics and oral medicine and manage peri-implant disease.
Common questions
Frequently asked.
Clinical content
Reviewed by Dr Leande Kotze and Dr Christa Blignaut. Last reviewed 16 May 2026.