Dental Implants – Hackensack, NJ

What to Do Directly After Dental Implant Surgery

Working adults should be able to return to their normal schedules just one or two days after their dental implant surgery (although some patients may need to spend more time resting at home depending on how complex their treatment was). In the meantime, your focus should be on making sure that the blood clot at the surgical site stays in place. To that end, you need to avoid spitting, drinking through a straw, and smoking during the healing process.

Common Side Effects After Dental Implant Surgery

To avoid unnecessary worry, it helps to be familiar with the side effects that are a normal part of the recovery process:

• Discomfort: The soreness after dental implant surgery usually peaks within two or three days, and over-the-counter pain medications typically help.
• Bleeding: Following your dental implant surgery, you may notice a bit of bleeding every once in a while. Whenever this occurs, you can stop it by holding a bit of gauze over the site.
• Swelling: Any post-surgical swelling should start to subside on its own after a few days, and a cold compress can often help you keep it under control.

Your Diet After Dental Implant Surgery

It’s not a good idea to push your mouth too hard after any type of oral surgery, so your diet after the procedure should consist of soft and liquid foods. Cold soup can be an excellent choice, but stay away from hot soup as it could cause problems for your dental implants. Other options include scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and yogurt. When you’re able to return to eating more solid foods, don’t forget to avoid chewing directly on your implant posts until the final restoration is in place.

Post-Op Health & Oral Hygiene

The last thing you want during the dental implant process is for an infection to occur while your mouth is still trying to heal. You can keep harmful bacteria at bay by brushing at least twice a day and rinsing with salt water. Be extra careful when brushing near the actual dental implant posts.

What to Do After Your New Teeth Are Attached

Your final crown, bridge, or denture will be placed in your mouth long after you’ve finished recovering from dental implant surgery. Your gums may be sensitive for a while, but you should be past the point where there’s any bleeding or swelling. If any unexpected symptoms occur, call us immediately.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

Dental implants can’t possibly get cavities, but this doesn’t mean the surrounding teeth and tissues are immune to oral health problems. As long as bacteria is left to accumulate around your gums, your metal posts can still be susceptible to problems like periodontal disease and peri-implantitis, which can increase their risk of failure. To make sure you don’t experience any problems like this, simply brush twice daily, floss once a day, and rinse with ADA-approved mouthwash frequently.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Another level of keeping your dental implants safe and functional includes maintaining a strong and healthy mouth. Since this treatment can help you regain 80% or more of your natural chewing ability, you should consider adopting a healthier diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. Foods containing excessive amounts of sugar and starch, or consuming these products too often, can leave your mouth vulnerable to bacteria and acid by-products that can ruin your dental implants and the surrounding connective tissues. Be sure to drink lots of water as well to clean your mouth and remove debris.

Break Bad Habits

Certain oral habits can be harmful to your smile, such as chewing on ice, using your teeth as tools, and especially smoking. Using tobacco products is already harmful to both your oral and overall health, but it can also interfere with the healing process for your dental implant treatment. If you want your new pearly whites to last as long as possible, it’s best to minimize or quit these habits altogether.

Protect Your Dental Implants

Even if you clean your smile regularly, accidents can still happen. An impact on your mouth can easily damage your dental implants or cause them to fail. If you tend to participate in contact sports or physical activities, you might consider getting custom mouthguards to protect your teeth. Furthermore, if you typically clench or grind your teeth during sleep, nightguards for bruxism may be something worth investing in. These oral appliances can help prevent damage to your implants, allowing you to enjoy their benefits for much longer.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

Visiting your dentist every six months is essential for taking care of your oral health. They can detect any developing problems and create a treatment plan to address issues before they can worsen. Overall, they can ensure that your mouth is as healthy as possible so that your dental implants remain safe and strong while you enjoy the advantages of a complete smile!

How Long Do Dental Implants Last?

On average, dental implants have a lifespan of 15-20 years. However, these prosthetic teeth can last 30 years or more with proper care. They thus have the power to outlast traditional bridges and dentures.

Still, how long your own implants last will depend on you. Your lifestyle, you see, greatly impacts their ability to function. As such, you should practice proper maintenance to ensure they keep working well. For example, remember to brush them, floss them, and rinse them with mouthwash daily. Similarly, attend regular dental checkups so a dentist can treat implant threats early.

What Can Cause Dental Implants to Fail?

While uncommon, implant failure can (and does) occur at times. In these cases, the cause is usually one of two things: peri-implantitis or failed osseointegration.

Peri-implantitis is a type of gum disease that develops around implants. A result of poor oral hygiene, it can damage your jaw’s bone tissue and the gums supporting your prosthetics. Left untreated, the condition can delay or prevent recovery from implant placement.

Per its name, failed osseointegration occurs when implants don’t integrate with the jawbone. The issue usually stems from natural causes, tobacco use, and certain health conditions.

To prevent either scenario, your dentist will offer guidelines on minimizing implant failure risk.

Can I Get Dental Implants If I Smoke?

Technically, a chronic smoker can go forward with dental implant treatment. That said, it’s not a good idea.

The issue is that smoking leads to a higher risk of implant failure. Tobacco products, after all, cause dry mouth, delay recovery from implant surgery, and keep implants from fusing with the jawbone. They can even trigger a dry socket, dislodging the blood clot that must form over the implant site.

Generally, a smoker should quit the habit at least two weeks before surgery. Their treatment will likely fail if they don’t. They’ll then need to refrain from smoking as their treatment site heals – a period of roughly two to three months.

Will People Be Able to Tell That I Have Dental Implants?

Rest assured, most people won’t even notice that you have dental implants. The treatment is so effective that its results look highly lifelike and natural.

For starters, dentists customize implants to your smile. Before placement, they’ll take dental impressions that allow a lab to personalize the restorations. That way, the final prosthetics won’t look any different from natural teeth.

Also, keep in mind that implants are permanent. Unlike dentures or bridges, they’re placed in the jaw like tooth roots. As such, you won’t have to hold your jaw oddly to keep them secure.