Q: My mother, who is 87, had two implants on her lower jaw to hold down a full denture. She noticed that one stood higher than the other. One year later, it is more so now, with receding gums and irritation. She also has trouble keeping her denture snapped in place. Is this normal? - N.M., Miami Beach.
A: Several issues could be at hand. Some recession of the gums is expected, but you don’t want to actually start seeing the threads of the implants . The irritation sometimes can be relieved by removing some of the pink acrylic in the denture base, encircling the attachments. Lack of retention of the denture (not snapping in) often means the "O" rings need to be replaced with a new, more retentive set. Most important, verify that a digital X-ray shows that the implant is not failing because of infection.