Dental Implants After-Surgery Care

If you’ve just received dental implants, you may be wondering what you can do to speed up the recovery process for yourself. Dental implant aftercare is an overlooked but important part of recovering from oral surgery. Here at the Santa Monica Center for Oral Surgery and Dental Implants, we understand that receiving implants can be a strenuous process, and we believe that prioritizing your initial healing period can lead to a reduction in severe pain following your dental procedure.

Receiving implant treatment isn’t fun by any stretch of the imagination, but we’ve created a list of instructions to help you better navigate the healing process from your dental implant procedure. 

Dental Implant Aftercare

Knowing which foods you can safely enjoy on the day of surgery and within the couple of days following your surgery will be essential to expediting your individual healing process. Crunchy food, hot drinks, hot food, alcohol, and spicy food should be avoided at all costs. Instead, you’ll want to enjoy softer food in order to reduce the amount of food debris available to irritate your mouth. Alcohol consumption can similarly irritate the gums on the night of surgery and in the days immediately following your procedure. 

Soft food is your best choice to reduce your risk of infection in the period following your dental implant procedure. In order to best preserve your oral hygiene, ice packs on the jaw may be used to reduce swelling of the gums. Drinking plenty of fluids and water on the days after surgery can speed up the initial period of healing from your procedure by indirectly flushing your mouth of food debris, while ensuring that you also remain properly hydrated. Cold drinks are your best friend. 

Strenuous exercise should be avoided immediately after dental implant surgery so as not to cause unnecessary bleeding of the gums. Excessive bleeding and even tooth implant infection can result from failing to follow implant aftercare tips. In the event that your implants become infected, so as to avoid implant removal you may be given antibiotics by your doctor. Using a traditional toothbrush is also not recommended, as this kind of toothbrush can cause excessive pressure to impact your dental implant placement. 

Care Following A Bone Graft

Achieving proper dental implant placement can sometimes require a bone graft to be conducted. Bone grafting requires the use of transplanted natural bone to restore sections of bone loss in the jaw. Synthetic bone material may also be used to induce bone growth for the precise placement of dental implants. 

You may receive prescription pain medication for additional pain relief. While prescription pain medicines can be used in the weeks immediately following surgery, pain killers are not recommended for long-term use in situations where pain post implant would be a sign of implant failure.

Dental implant cleaning can provide a natural remedy for pain following surgery, and you may find additional pain relief from adhering to aftercare tips in combination with taking your prescribed dose of pain medication. 

You may find that consistently using water flossers with gentle pressure and gentle heat provides pain relief from swelling while expediting the healing period. Traditional floss can cause unnecessary pressure on the gums and induce unhealthy blood flow in the mouth. 

In the event that your mouth is filling with blood or you notice bleeding wounds in the days following your surgery, you may find it helpful to frequently apply and replace gauze sponges to the irritated portion of your gums. While not a long-term solution to excessive bleeding, using a gauze pack can contribute to experiencing minimal bleeding in the weeks following surgery.  

Keeping Your Mouth and Dental Implants Clean

Excessive alcohol consumption, even after you initially heal from your procedure, can be a catalyst for gum irritation. Sticking to a normal diet and avoiding strenuous activity for the first few weeks after your surgery gives you the best chance of reducing your risk of experiencing implant failure. Receiving regular cleanings and avoiding unnecessary physical exertion in the weeks following surgery can significantly reduce discomfort and minor bleeding commonly associated with the healing process. 

Bleeding after surgery is a common cause of discomfort for those going through the aftermath of a dental implant process, but this kind of bleeding can be reduced with regular salt water rinses while avoiding overly crunchy food. While hot water is not recommended, a warm saltwater solution can reduce your infection risk while prioritizing oral hygiene maintenance with minimal discomfort. 

Wearing a night guard may also be helpful if you find yourself grinding your teeth during sleep (this is most commonly recognized in the presence of moderate pain when waking up). 

Contact Us Today!

If you’re wondering if you might be an eligible patient for a dental implant procedure, we’d love to speak with you. Feel free to contact us via our website or via email to go over your treatment options with one of our qualified and experienced oral surgeons. You can schedule your free pre-operative consultation online.

With the right treatment plan discussed during your dental consultation, you can prioritize your oral hygiene and experience minimal pain throughout your recovery process. At Santa Monica’s premier oral surgery center, our dental patients overwhelmingly report successful implant procedures.

While implant recovery symptoms are not uncommon to experience, they can be minimized through strict adherence to post-operative instructions. Precise cleaning instructions and additional implant care instructions will be given to you by your doctor following your implant procedure. 

Eliminating unnecessary pain is not only possible, but achievable by any patient who follows implant aftercare instructions in the time period immediately following their surgical procedure. Your implant treatment outcome can reflect long-term success when you trust the Santa Monica Center for Oral Surgery with your implant treatment. Contact us today for additional instructions or more information!