Recovering From Your Dental Implant Procedure

Taking care of yourself and your new dental implant following surgery.

So, you have decided to replace your missing tooth with a dental implant, an excellent choice for those who want a strong and stable tooth replacement. You have put aside any concerns you might have had about the procedure and have now completed it safely in the hands of our experienced and skilled Burton dental team. Your implant is now placed, but what should you do next to ensure that the final result will be what you hope it to be?

Placing a dental implant requires skill and is naturally a very important part of the process when it comes to a successful treatment. This is only the first part though and what the patient does, or doesn’t do, next can have a major impact on the long term health of the implant.

Immediate aftercare

Once you’ve left SG Dental and Implant Centre with your newly placed implant, it is important that you look after yourself. The procedure is an invasive one and you should allow yourself a little recovery time. What you definitely should not do is to go straight back to a highly physical job. Rest plays an important part in recovery and if you have a tooth implant appointment booked, make sure to book a day or two holiday to allow yourself some rest.

After an implant has been placed, it usually takes around three months for it to fully fuse with the bone. During this time, it is strongly advised that you avoid too much physical exercise that causes an impact on your body. Pounding the streets will cause jarring to the body and may have an affect on the osseointegration of the tooth and bone.

Cleaning the area

It is not recommended that you brush around your new implant initially. That said, it is important to keep this area clean as gum disease and peri-implantitis can threaten a dental implant both immediately afterwards and in the longer run. Once your new implant has become established, the usual advice of brushing, flossing and hygienist visits apply. In the very early stages though, your dentist may advise cleaning the area with a warm saline solution. You will be given full instructions on this at the time.

Eating and drinking

‘Patience is a virtue’, it is often said, and this applies when you have had a dental implant placed. Once fully integrated, your new teeth will be ready to take on the toughest of chewing challenges, but in its early days, care needs to be taken. Initially, it is recommended that you consume liquid foods such as soup or liquidised meals. Essentially, you should not put any pressure on the replacement tooth by chewing even moderately challenging foods.

After this initial stage has passed, you can start to add more solid foods such as mashed potatoes, soft pasta and similar foods. Eventually, you will be able to progress to slightly harder foods. Don’t be tempted to rush things though and be sure to err on the side of caution. Being patient will help your new tooth firmly integrate and should ensure a long life for it providing that you take good long term care of it too.

Smoking and alcohol

Both cigarettes and alcohol are not your friends if you want to have a healthy mouth and this applies even more when you have had an implant placed. Your dentist will have advised that you avoid both of these for a period of time before and after your treatment. The reason for this, as anyone reading previous blogs should know, is that both of these habits greatly increase the risk of gum disease. In its more advanced stage, this can cause damage to the bone tissue surrounding your new implant. Without strong healthy bone, the implant can become loose and may, ultimately, even fail.

Even once the tooth has become established, it is strongly advised that you avoid smoking altogether and keep your alcohol intake to a moderate level in order to maintain a healthy mouth.

Long term care

Once your tooth has fully integrated and you feel ready to eat normally again, confident in your new replacement tooth, you will feel that any short term sacrifice was worth it. Your new tooth will be strong and stable in a way that dentures can’t be due to their lack of a replacement tooth root.

Even now that the process is complete, you should remember to look after your implant. It may not be able to decay but, as mentioned earlier, poor gum health can still threaten the implant. Care should be taken to brush effectively around the tooth and dental floss should also be used. Don’t underestimate the importance of seeing our Burton hygienist either. They play an important role in helping you have a healthy mouth, an important factor not only for natural teeth but artificial ones too.

Naturally, we are always on hand for any advice or concerns that you might have, from the earliest stages of your treatment to long term care. If you have any questions or concerns about your tooth implant or would like to have a consultation with us about the possibility of having one placed, please call SG Dental and Implant Centre today on 01283 845345.