A dental implant needs to get done when you want to replace a missing or damaged tooth. When this happens, an artificial tooth is inserted into the jawbone in a process that may take several months. After this implant, it will take some time before complete healing takes place. Here are four steps that you can take to ensure that it heals successfully and quickly.
Take Medication
After the implant, your specialist will give you or recommend medications that you need to take during the healing process. Some of these may be to reduce pain or antibiotics to prevent infections. Others may be directly responsible for the healing process. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that you take the medication as directed. Take just the right dosage, as any excess may have potentially harmful effects, while a lower dose could fail to have the expected results. Be sure to also look for a reliable and professional dentist, like this dentist based in Ballwin for the best services and an easier road to recovery.
Focus on Soft Foods
You do not want to exert pressure on your tooth through hard chewing. Therefore, it is vital that during this period, you take soft foods and foods that do not have crumbs so that these do not get caught up in the gaps. Some of the foods to consider during this period include eggs, mashed potatoes, and eggs. As healing progresses, you may gradually consume increasingly harder foods. Should you be unsure of a particular food item, it is a good idea to seek the guidance of a professional, like those from Treasured Smiles Dentistry.
Stay Away from Certain Beverages
The carbonation in soda (let alone all of the excess sugars) has the potential of irritating the gums around your dental implant. This could possibly lead to an infection and/or have an effect on the healing process. Along with soda, you may want to consider ditching juices, coffee, and, especially, alcohol. The acid and sugar in juices and coffee could irritate your gums.
As for alcohol, it has a great potential of causing you more pain as your gums will be pretty sensitive during this time and there may even be some of your inner gum flesh exposed. Of course, this is something that you ought to talk to your dentist about because there may be more types of drinks that you may need to avoid as well. What you will need to avoid may also depend on how extensive your procedure will be.
You should also know that if you do consume anything (food or drink) and can tell that your gums are becoming irritated, then you should stop taking in whatever it is that you are taking in. Monitor the impact and, if your gums or teeth don’t get better, contact your dentist.
Avoid Smoking
Smoking or the consumption of tobacco products—such as those that you may find in vaping—during this time will have a negative impact on the process. This will make the healing take much longer than it should. It may even introduce complexities that may make the whole process unsuccessful. To avoid such complications, it is vital that one keeps off smoking.
Do Not Miss out on Appointments
In the course of the recovery process, you will need to visit your doctor for scheduled appointments periodically or to seek further guidance, for example, if the pain becomes too much. Failure to turn up for these appointments or to inform the doctor when there are incidences will have adverse effects on the recovery. Any problems will likely not be detected early, and this may complicate the recovery. Be sure to also look for a reliable and professional dentist, like this dentist based in Ballwin for the best services and an easier road to recovery.
The recovery process is a very crucial part of the whole procedure, and it is, therefore, vital to take maximum precaution during this period. Any detrimental omission or commission during this phase may ruin the entire process. It is worth the sacrifice of restraint. After all, it is only a short time, and you shall be back to your normal activities.
