Caring for Dental Implants: Seven Essential Tips for You
Are you determined to get dental implants after losing teeth to injuries or infections? You might be overjoyed at the prospect of getting natural-looking and feeling artificial teeth. Right now, you may dislike people with beautiful smiles because they appear more successful than you are while having higher self-esteem. Therefore your delight in having dental implants should make you ecstatic about them.
Are you aware you must care for your dental implants if you wish to have a gorgeous smile and benefit from implants immensely? If you want to succeed with dental implants must ensure you practice excellent dental implant care. Remember, we didn’t mention dental care but merely dental implant care separate from dental hygiene. Do you know how to take care of your implants? If not, this article provides an overview of caring for your dental implants to help them remain in your mouth forever.
Caring Tips for Dental Implants
Using a Soft Nylon Toothbrush
You may need to switch toothbrush’s after you get dental implants. You must prefer a soft nylon toothbrush having pliable bristles that are gentle on your implants. You can request information from the dentist near me on the most appropriate toothbrush to clean around the challenging to reach areas around the implants. Stay far away from hard bristled toothbrushes because they can damage the surface of the implant. In reality, you mustn’t use any metal instruments to clean your mouth after completing the implant placement procedure. Instead, stay put with the tried and tested techniques of brushing and flossing every day.
Don’t Use Abrasive Toothpaste
Whether you are purchasing toothpaste or mouthwash, request recommendations from the dentist to ensure you aren’t purchasing sensitive cleaning products after you have dental implants in your mouth. Many products are significantly abrasive to cause extreme discomfort. Generally, you must avoid any flavored oral hygiene products with mint or cinnamon because they generate an uncomfortable feeling in your mouth.
Flossing Every Day
Are you aware nearly 84 percent of Americans are not using dental floss appropriately every day? In reality, a mere 14 percent of Americans floss appropriately. Unfortunately, if you are a part of the majority, it is time for you to change things after investing considerably in dental implants.
Besides brushing, flossing becomes essential with dental implants to ensure you don’t allow plaque to accumulate around your teeth and the implants. Plaque is a leading cause of gum disease and implant failure. Therefore you must safeguard your investment and look for other types of flossing tools designed specifically for people with dental implants.
There are no set guidelines for when you must floss your teeth during the day. You can use this tool to clean your teeth before or after lunch or dinner, during the day or the night, or whenever you feel like it. If you wish, you can floss first thing in the morning when you step out for your morning walk. So long as you floss every day without exceptions, the timing doesn’t matter because it leaves your teeth clean.
Immediate After-Care Tips
After getting dental implants, the dentist in Peoria, AZ, provides immediate after-care tips for you to follow to ensure you don’t damage the newly placed titanium posts in your mouth. You will experience some pain and swelling over 24 hours after getting dental implants. However, as you have undergone a surgical procedure, the discomfort shouldn’t alarm you. Here are some tips you can follow after dental implant placement:
You can bite on the gauze pad placed in your mouth to control bleeding.
For eight to 12 hours following dental implant placement, do not move around and keep your head in an elevated position.
Use an ice pack on your face to control swelling for as long as you wish without exceeding 15 minutes at one time.
Consume soft foods and beverages at room temperature during the first 24 hours.
Take the prescribed medications by your doctor and avoid rinsing your mouth during the initial 24 hours.
Avoid Alcohol and Smoking
Your general health benefits if you avoid alcohol and smoking. However, after getting dental implants, you must refrain from these products because they can hamper the healing process. Dental implants require six months to heal, and the chemicals from tobacco are detrimental to your recovery and will not allow the implant to integrate with your jawbone. Alcohol also has a similar effect and slows down your healing. Therefore both products are best avoided for the benefit of your dental implants.
If you think you can care for the dental implants you seek just as your natural teeth, we recommend visiting Westbrook Village Dental to get the placements and the after-care tips to maintain your artificial teeth.