Maintaining Healthy Dental Implants
Dental implants can last for over twenty years but how do you maximise the chances of this?
Most dentists will tell you that the best replacement option for a missing tooth is to have a dental implant. We would agree with this. Although dentures still have a role to play, especially aesthetically, there is no doubt in our minds that a dental implant offers so much more strength, stability and security. While they do require minor surgery initially; once fully established, they are relatively easy to care for and won’t break when cleaning as dentures can sometimes do.
In today’s blog, we are going to look at some of the things that our Burton patients can do, once an implant has been placed, to keep it healthy and give you many years of enjoying eating your food without the hassle of false teeth that move around while doing so.
Immediate period following placement
Although now widely used, placing a tooth implant does require some invasive work in a procedure that can take longer than many others. The fact that it involves placing an implant, in essence a replacement tooth root, into the jawbone means that care has to be taken to get things just right.
The next step, following surgery, is the osseointegration period. Unfortunately, this takes time, usually around three months, before the implant is fully fused with the bone. Special care should be taken during this period to protect your new implant and that starts right away after the procedure.
The first thing that you should do is to rest. This really helps to start things off on the right track and helps the procedure site to start to recover. Any movement should be kept to a minimum and we recommend considering a couple of days off work to allow you to relax as much as you possibly can. It is important too that you follow any specific instructions that the dentist at SG Dental and Implant Centre might give you. They will also give you advice around eating, and a modified diet will be essential at this very early stage.
As with the rest of the osseointegration period, and beyond too, you should not smoke. Smoking can lead to periodontal diseases which can cause the implant to fail. Keeping the area clean is important too although you won’t be able to brush and your dentist will advise how to do this.
The first weeks
After a few days, you will want to start doing things again, including going to work etc. It is still early days though and you need to take care not to do anything that might cause your body to ‘jolt’ which could displace the implant. This might include any heavy manual labour and this will be discussed before you have your treatment. If you usually exercise or take part in sports, you will need to be careful here too. A gentle walk or swim should be fine, but ‘pounding the road’ by running will cause your body to jolt and jar and can loosen the implant. Similarly, no contact sport should be undertaken at this time. The key is to do as little as possible that can affect the implant during this phase.
After the initial recovery
After a few weeks, the osseointegration process will be well under way but you still need to be a little cautious. Although there is now additional security, the implant could still be vulnerable if you don’t take good care. By this stage, you may have been able to introduce softer foods such as mashed potatoes, well cooked pasta etc but certainly not harder foods that could cause damage if they come into contact with the implant. You may also now be able to brush gently around the area using a soft bristled toothbrush.
The good news is that you are now well on your way to having a strong and healthy dental implant but you still need to exercise caution to make sure it stays that way.
Final healing phase
As you continue your dental implant journey, you will gradually be able to introduce harder foods into your diet. We still advise you to exercise caution here and also use your other teeth for chewing these. You are so close now, it doesn’t make sense to take chances. You should be able to clean your teeth normally towards the later part of this process and introduce flossing too, although this should be done in agreement with the dentist. Once your dentist has advised you that the implant process is complete and fully integrated with the bone, you can now treat it as you would a regular healthy natural tooth.
Going forwards
A dental implant and the crown attached to it are made entirely from artificial materials and will not decay. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need to clean around it anymore, and in fact, quite the opposite. It is essential that you avoid gum disease as this can eventually affect the bone that the implant is placed into and can cause it to degrade and the implant loosen or fall out.
The good news is that this isn’t hard to do, and, as you should do for your natural teeth too, you should make sure to brush around your gums well, including where the implant is positioned, clean between them using floss and see the hygienist at our Burton dental clinic. As mentioned before, smoking is a real ‘no no’ too and will greatly increase the chances of implant failure. If you have no intention of stopping smoking, an implant may not be the ideal solution for you.
Naturally, we will monitor the health of the implant at all stages and give you advice to keep it healthy. If you have any concerns or questions about your implant during this time, please do contact us for advice.
If you have any questions about implant aftercare or are interested to find out more about them, please call the SG Dental and Implant Centre on 01283 845345.