When you first get dental implants, you may be eager to put treatment behind you. That’s a natural feeling – most want to enjoy their restored smile immediately. However, you’ll need to avoid certain habits and actions while you heal from the placement process. Your prosthetics could otherwise fail early, forcing you to get costly replacements. To keep that from happening, here’s a primer on four things you should avoid after dental implant surgery.
Hard or Hot Foods
It’s easy to want to eat your favorite meals once you have dental implants. Even so, you should avoid hard or hot foods for a few days after placement.
You see, chewing hard and hot foods harms the implant healing process. High temperatures would irritate your treatment site, slowing down your recovery. On the other hand, biting a hard object would upset the gums around your implant, potentially causing implant failure.
Rinsing too Much
While your implant site may feel iffy while you recover, don’t go overboard with the oral rinses. Rinsing too much would put your treatment results at risk.
Indeed, excessive rinsing isn’t good for a still-healing mouth. The habit could disturb your implant site, cause bleeding, and dislodge the forming blood clot. Given those facts, please don’t rinse vigorously for the first two days after surgery. You can gently swish with mouthwash after that period, but let it flow out of your mouth over the sink.
Intense Exercise
Even if it’s one of your regular routines, don’t exercise intensely right after dental implant surgery. This activity would put you at high risk of implant failure.
The main problem is that intense exercise increases your body’s blood flow. During recovery, that increased flow would cause bleeding and delay your healing. That means you should avoid strenuous exercise for at least 2-3 days after surgery.
Smoking Tobacco
Since dental implant surgery can be invasive, you may want to unwind after it’s done by smoking. Resist that impulse – it’ll just disrupt your long-term recovery.
While tobacco products are always harmful, they’re especially so after implant surgery. Smoking a cigarette would stop your mouth from healing and likely trigger implant failure. After all, nicotine can restrict blood flow to the gums and jawbone, leading to a longer recovery process.
Now knowing what to avoid after dental implant surgery, you’re sure to have great treatment results. Just consult your dental provider if you’d like more advice on recovery!
About the Practice
Lake Oconee Dentistry, PC is based in Greensboro, GA. Led by our extensive team of dentists, our practice vows to give each patient top-level dental care. That commitment leads us to tailor our preventive, cosmetic, and restorative treatments to your smile and its unique needs. At the same time, it reminds our team to give patients the trust and respect they deserve. For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (706)-453-1333.