Having a dental implant surgery can change your physical appearance dramatically, as you will have a new tooth fitted to fill any previous gaps from lost teeth. Additionally, your dental health and functions will remain as desired, because the dental implants work to replace decayed or deformed teeth. As a result, you will not have to deal with problems associated with difficulties in chewing, or recurrent pain after having the dental implants fixed.
Based on the advantages of receiving treatment through the installation of dental implants, many patients opt for the procedure to obtain a semi-permanent fix. However, most people fail to appreciate the crucial steps they should observe after having the dental implants surgically fixed to keep them in a good state. Consequently, they may suffer from severe complications arising from the poor maintenance of dental implants. To avoid these mishaps, you can observe these nine tips on how to avoid dealing with dental implant issues.
Consult an Experienced and Qualified Dentist Before Your Dental Implants are Installed
The first and most crucial step to avoid complications with your dental implants involves choosing an experienced dentist who is conversant with dental implant surgery. Usually, taking your time to select a dentist with an in-depth understanding of the possible complications that may arise is ideal before consenting to the surgical procedure.
Naturally, you will feel more comfortable receiving services from a dentist with years of experience in dental implant procedures, as he/she can demonstrate mastery in the field. Additionally, the dentist is less likely to make certain oversights during the surgical procedure, as his/her experience will have equipped them with valuable skills.
Therefore, you will save yourself from several subsequent hardships in the long run. For example, an unqualified dentist may install the dental implants incorrectly, leading to delayed osseointegration. The osseointegration process involves the fusion of your nerve cells, and jawbone tissue to the dental implant, giving it firm support similar to your regular teeth.
Thus, if the natural process fails because of the dentist’s substandard installation process, you will be prone to infections, severe pain, and possible complications with your nerve endings. The result could warrant drastic health measures that lead up to additional medical costs you did not anticipate.
Further, you want to work with a dentist who understands how to apply the details from your medical history in the treatment. Without proper training, the dentist may overlook several allergic reactions or your susceptibility to other conditions linked to invasive surgery. In this case, you may suffer from long-term complications that could have been avoided if the dentist made a full reference to your medical history.
Provide a Comprehensive Overview of Your Medical History
Most patients who require dental implants will be visiting their dentists for the first time, or after a long period. Because of this, your dentist may not have all the details concerning your medical history to offer a guide in dental implant surgery and recovery.
Therefore, you want to provide all required information on your medical history, particularly if you have any special allergies or reactions to medication like sedatives used during surgery. This way, your dentist will know what drugs to avoid throughout the medical procedures for your wellbeing.
Your medical history should also include details on any previous medical conditions you have faced. For example, if you were diagnosed with osteoporosis (a disease that reduces your general bone density) your dentist should know about it.
The history is crucial to your dental implant surgery because the procedure involves the removal of some bone tissue from the jawbone to create space for the implant. Therefore, having insufficient bone density will prompt the dentist to find alternative treatment options, including varying designs for your dental implants.
We also advise you to fully disclose any prescriptions you are currently on to avoid mixing incompatible medication. The situation may be serious and often leads to fatalities if not addressed beforehand.
Follow the Aftercare Instructions that your Dentist Provides
After the dentist completes the dental implant surgery, he/she will provide aftercare instructions that you should incorporate when you get home. These directives are necessary because they help to protect you from infections, injuries, and severe inflammation in your gums.
Most patients who report dental implant problems soon after installation will link their conditions to the violation of the strict instructions given. One of the main directives you need to follow is avoiding hard foods until your dentist certifies that your implant is completely integrated. Due to this, you may miss out on crunchy snacks and meals that you often consume, creating a gap in your daily nutrition.
Nonetheless, you can identify and follow a new diet that includes the recommended soft foods until your implant is firm enough to withstand more pressure when chewing. If you need help with finding alternatives to consume foods, your dentist can recommend ways of preparing meals to reduce the difficulty in chewing.
Also, we are happy to refer you to a nutritionist who can provide more elaborate information on the food options to stick with until your dental implant wounds heal. While the temptation to eat your favorite meals will constantly be available, you need to uphold self-control and think about the possible consequences of your actions. Since you risk facing painful conditions by consuming prohibited food, you should seek better alternatives.
Your dentist will also advise you to take your prescribed medication as directed. Most drugs prescribed after your dental implant surgery help to alleviate pain and inflammation. From the relief they provide, you should aim to complete your dosage despite feeling like you may not need them.
We understand that some directives may be restrictive, mostly if they limit the type of food you can eat. However, you should remember that most restrictions are temporary and aim to promote a complete recovery. Thus, sticking to the directives is advisable because it saves you from having to undergo dental implant re-installation processes.
Stop Smoking after Dental Implants are Installed
Apart from avoiding hard foods, your dentist will also discourage you from smoking. The practice leads to multiple detrimental effects on your general oral health, regardless of whether you have dental implants.
Normally, regular smoking will reduce blood circulation to the mouth, meaning that your gums and jawbone do not receive sufficient nutrients. The nicotine found in cigarettes is the primary cause of reduced blood circulation, leading to a compromise in tissue recovery after the implants are fitted.
Additionally, inhaling the fumes from a cigarette will expose your jaws to higher temperatures than usual. The exposure often weakens your gum tissue, making your teeth loose and more prone to falling off. Similarly, the nerves and jawbone tissue supporting your dental implants may weaken. Consequently, you will need to have the implants re-adjusted, which may be a painful and expensive experience.
You should also note that the tar found in cigarettes stains your teeth, including your dental implants. The tar deposits will coat the area surrounding your artificial crown supported by the implant. This clogs up the gum tissue and creates a toxic environment that may also breed bacteria.
Overall, smoking is, therefore, a harmful practice for patients living with dental implants. Hence, your dentist will advise you to stop smoking even before you decide to have your implants fitted. Doing this will enable you to uphold your new non-smoking habits, so you will not expose yourself to its dangers unnecessarily.
When you feel ready to begin treatment and have the dental implants installed, you can then visit your dental clinic. During this period, you should not relapse into smoking because your gum wounds will still be relatively fresh and vulnerable to infections.
Brush and Floss your Teeth Regularly
You should also continue maintaining the best oral hygiene possible, mainly because gums are more exposed to infections from bacteria. You can avoid the risk of severe gum infections like Peri-implantitis by brushing and flossing your teeth after every meal.
If you require a soft-bristled toothbrush, you may also ask your dentist to recommend some brands. They will come in handy during your first few days after the implants are fitted because the area surrounding them is still sensitive.
Moreover, you may receive special antibacterial mouthwash from your dentist to prevent mouth infections. Often, the mouthwash is provided with the other medication, meaning that you should use it as directed until the prescription is over. However, you should remember that using mouthwash is not an alternative for brushing your teeth and flossing regularly.
Trust the Process
Soon after the dental implant surgical procedure, you may start worrying about whether your jawbone tissue is recovering as expected. For some, the anxiety and eagerness to do away with the pain of having new implants will lead them to tamper with the fresh wounds.
Doubtless, you can expect to deal with the painful effects of poking your implants too much, as the recovery process will be interrupted. To avoid going through the discomfort, we advise you to remain patient with the entire process of obtaining implants and having them integrate into your jawbone. In case of any issues to raise, your dentist is happy to assess the matter and give a professional opinion on the possible solutions.
In other cases, patients may become worried about the pain following the dental implant surgery. Consequently, they may be tempted to return to their dental clinic multiple times seeking relief from the new and uncomfortable feeling in the gums.
While we are happy to support you in any way, you need to remember that your dentist will provide all the necessary prescriptions and instructions you need for a gradual recovery. Thus, it helps to trust the healing process, as you will save yourself the trouble of spending too much money to get to the dental clinic, only to receive the same remedies and instructions given before. However, you are encouraged to contact your dentist in case of any dental emergencies, including when your dental implants feel extremely loose.
Avoid Activities that Expose you to Injuries
After making steady progress with recovery after your dental implant surgery, you may begin to get confident with more exposure to your normal life activities.
However, you should be careful to avoid activities that increase the risk of injury to your jawbone. The reason you should exercise caution even after the anchorage of the dental implant is that any injury to the jawbone may weaken the tissue surrounding it. Consequently, your implant may become loose, or cause subsequent swelling and pain.
Thus, it would be better to avoid activities like high-impact sports that can quickly expose you to jawbone injuries. For example, boxing or wrestling with dental implants on is not recommended, despite the security that mouthguards offer. Sometimes, a blow may land on an unprotected area around your mouth, leading to detrimental effects on your dental implants.
Attend All Follow-up Dental Appointments
Another common cause of problems for patients with dental implants is missing their follow-up appointments with their dentist. Often, a patient may assume that the dentist only needs to make a brief check-up and conclude the appointment. Since the session may seem basic and non-essential, you may decide to forego it for more urgent matters.
However, we recommend following through with your dental appointments after the installation of dental implants, because your dentist has a chance to track your recovery process. By doing this, he/she can also identify any signs of developing an infection or any other complications that you may not have noticed before.
Most complications are not easy to identify by yourself, primarily if they do not cause pain or discomfort at the initial stages. Nevertheless, they will eventually develop into severe conditions that require significant procedures to remedy the problem. Hence, going for your check-ups may save you from dealing with any subsequent dental complexities.
Additionally, check-up sessions provide a great chance for you to raise any concerns or unusual observations you have made since your dental implant installation. When you ask your dentist for clarification or guidance, you save yourself from making detrimental decisions that may cause harm.
The interactive sessions during follow-up sessions are also good because you receive reassurance about your recovery from the dentist. This way, you will have fewer doubts on whether you are taking too long to recover or get used to the dental implants.
Conduct Extensive Research on the Types of Implants You Want
Lastly, conducting your research on the type of dental implants you would like installed is always an excellent idea. Thanks to the information you discover, you can create a custom dental implant maintenance routine that helps you keep your general oral health at its best.
Among the different information, you may discover the different types of implants available. Firstly, your dentist may recommend endosteal implants if your dental case is best suited for them. As the name suggests, endosteal implants are inserted inside your jawbone for support and semi-permanent anchorage. Therefore, their design often mimics a screw for easy installation into the jawbone.
Typically, endosteal implants are the most common types available for patients because they offer long-term anchorage. On top of this, you are more likely to feel comfortable in these implants after the osseointegration process is complete. This is primarily because the fusion of your nerve and jawbone tissues to the implant holds it like a natural tooth. As a result, you do not have to worry about knocking your implant off, unless exposed to high impact.
Alternatively, you may find information on the subperiosteal dental implants that sit under the gum tissue. However, they do not penetrate the jawbone, meaning that you do not have to lose too much bone mass when the dentist drills into the jawbone. Often, the subperiosteal implants are ideal for patients who suffer from serious bone loss, or conditions associated with low bone density.
From the conducted research, you will be ready to deal with the dental implant process. You will also have more confidence in the dental implant option that the dentist suggests for your treatment because you will understand the rationale behind it. Hence, you will appreciate your treatment journey better, and take good care of your dental implants until you make a full recovery.
Contact a Dental Implant Dentist Near Me
The delicate recovery process after having dental implants fitted may be challenging, especially if you lack recommendations on what to do to avoid problems. However, with the support of your dentist, you will understand the necessary routines to uphold, as well as when to seek medical attention. The details on how to avoid complications after having the dental implants fitted will save you from too much panic and delayed professional assistance. Keeping in touch with qualified dentists is essential before and after your dental implant surgery, as they will provide the needed support.
If you require dental implant services, We invite you to contact Tarzana Dental Care at 818-708-3232. Our team consists of widely experienced dentists who are conversant with sensitive invasive procedures, including the installation of dental implants. Moreover, we are ready to answer any questions you have concerning the maintenance of healthy gums and preventing infections in your jaw bone tissue after the dental implants are installed. With our help, you can enjoy the full benefits of a seamless dental implant recovery, for ideal oral health.