Planning For Dental Implants

Advice from your Burton dentists for those considering dental implants in the new year

As we come towards the end of the year, there are probably lots of things that most of us still need to do to prepare for the Christmas festivities. Many of us will be making even more effort this year to make up for lost family gatherings last year due to Covid restrictions. It can certainly be a busy time and that means that certain things tend to get put on hold a little. This even applies to all but essential dental care and perhaps fast acting cosmetic procedures such as teeth whitening for those who want to make the most of the party season.

Treatments like implants though, may well get put on hold until all the festivities are over and things settle down a little. This doesn’t mean that you can’t still prepare yourself to have dental implants to replace dentures or missing teeth though. There are still a number of things that you can do now, which will be helpful when the time comes for your procedure.

General preparation

There are a few important things that contribute to a positive dental implant placement. These are the use of high quality titanium implants, the skill and experience of the dentist performing the procedure and the presence of a generally healthy mouth. The first two of these are taken care of with the skills, experience and high quality materials we offer at Mike Allen’s Dental Practice. The final one, we can help with, but much of this is down to personal preparation by the patient.

The most important thing you can do yourself is to practice good oral health care. This means diligent brushing, making sure to get the bristles around the gum line and also adding the use of floss to your daily regimen if you don’t already do so. All of these are important to prevent periodontal diseases that could affect and potentially weaken the bone into which your implant will be placed. We will, of course, examine your teeth and gums beforehand and you may also need to receive a scale and polish treatment to make sure that your gums are as healthy as possible beforehand.

Eat and drink wisely

Your dental implants can last for twenty years or more if you look after them properly. The preparation period is an investment in your time that will really pay off and help you to get your new implants off to a great start.

As with your natural teeth, what you eat and drink can have an impact on your teeth and gums. It is quite possible that you will lapse a little over the festive period itself, so it is worth being a little more strict with yourself both before and afterwards. Avoid too many sweet sugary foods and drinks, limit your alcohol intake, and most importantly, do not smoke. Smoking is one of the most damaging things that you can do for your oral health so please make sure not to lapse and try to avoid those celebratory New Year cigars!

Get fitter

There is no need to do anything too extreme and most of us will probably want to lose a few pounds after the overindulgence of Christmas anyway. Getting fitter means that the blood is supplied more efficiently around the body and this will help with the post implant placement healing process. There is no need to overdo this and simple steps like taking stairs and walking a little further each day all help.

Prepare in advance

The lead up to your dental implant placement is important, but so is the period afterwards, especially immediately following the procedure. There will be some restrictions for you for a short while, with no smoking or excess alcohol being a couple. Another thing that will need to change for a while though is your diet. For a period of time, usually around 3 months, you will need to be careful about what you eat so as not to weaken the implant. This will mean that you may need to start eating very soft foods initially before moving to firmer foods until you can use your implant normally.

A number of our Burton dental implant patients explained to us how they’d planned ahead to ensure that the short disruption to their diet was as manageable as possible. If you are considering implants in the new year, now is a good time to start to plan a few recipes for healthy and filling soups and other soft foods. You might even want to suggest a few recipe books as Christmas presents to give you a few ideas.

Finally, it is quite possible that questions about your treatment will arise between now and the date of the procedure. Please remember that we are always happy to help you with any questions or concerns about your treatment that you might have.

We anticipate that there will be a rise in requests for new teeth implants in 2022 so why not start your journey now by having a consultation with the implant dentist at Mike Allen’s Dental Practice? You can call us today on 01283 845345 to arrange an appointment.