Dental implants have made it possible for people to resume their everyday lives even after losing their teeth to infections, trauma, or congenital conditions. These implants are designed to attach to the jawbone permanently, allowing you to chew, talk, and perform other tasks with your mouth with no discomfort. However, their placement is extremely invasive and will leave you with sore and swollen gum for a few days.
Therefore, recovering from a dental implant procedure requires special care and attention. You must do several important things after this procedure to optimize your recovery and the results. If something goes wrong during recovery, it will have a long-term effect on your dental implants. Here are the three things to avoid after getting dental implants.
Smoking
After surgery, your mouth needs a conducive environment to heal properly and for the osseointegration process to go on successfully. This integration process is important as it enables your jawbone to develop and grow around the implants, thus creating a firm foundation for your teeth replacements. Smoking and chewing tobacco affect the healing process, which ultimately interferes with the osseointegration process. So, it would help if you quit smoking at least for a few weeks to allow your mouth to heal.
Intense Physical Activities
Since dental implant surgery involves making incisions in your gums, you face the risk of excessive bleeding if you engage in intense physical activities immediately after surgery. So, you should rest as much as possible and avoid strenuous activities for at least two days after the procedure. If you have to go back to work, seek guidance from your doctor.
Excessive Rinsing of Mouth
Until you are fully healed, do not rinse your mouth vigorously because it will disturb the surgical sites and cause excessive bleeding. Doctors advise against the use of mouthwash a day or two after surgery. Even after the two days, you should gently swish the mouthwash around your mouth, making sure that you do not irritate the surgical sites. Also, do not spit the mouthwash out; just let it flow out slowly over the sink.
Two days after the procedure, start brushing the surgical sites gently with a soft toothbrush (preferably with soft bristles). Work gently on the sides, front, and back of the implant site without pushing the toothbrush too hard. Also, do not floss your teeth or use an electric toothbrush for at least two weeks after the surgery.