Recovering From Dental Implant Surgery | Dental Implants, Wichita

While there is no specific recovery time for all dental implant patients, you can expect to resume all regular activities after seven to 10 days if you undergo a simple implant placement with no additional bone or gum grafting. Because your oral condition, tolerances, and lifestyle choices will significantly impact your healing time, some additional considerations you will need to factor in when predicting your recovery time include:

• The number of teeth you are having implanted
• If your procedure will require initial bone grafting
• If your bone is healthy enough for implants to adhere to
• If you will require gum grafting

Once you have undergone your dental implant procedure, the effort you put into following your post-operative instructions will dictate your recovery process. At Cambridge Family Dentistry, our team provides dental implants in Wichita and recommends following some simple tips to reduce your recovery time and ensure you remain healthy!

Get Sufficient Rest—To ensure correct after-care for your implant procedure, you should plan ahead and arrange for additional help immediately following surgery. Allow yourself a few days to rest following the procedure and make any arrangements necessary, such as scheduling two days off work or any other social engagements, pre-planning meals and stocking up on soft foods, making childcare arrangements, and taking a break from exercise.

Apply Ice—Whether you have dental implant surgery in multiple phases or all at once, you will likely experience physical discomfort, including swelling and bruising of skin and gums, pain at the implant site, and minor bleeding. To alleviate swelling and prevent bruising, apply ice to your jaw for 30 minutes, remove for 20 minutes, and repeat for the first 24 hours following surgery. If your swelling continues to worsen after icing, alert your dentist immediately as this may be a sign of infection.

Alter Your Diet—In order to prevent blood clots near your implant site, it is important to alter your diet and avoid drinking through a straw or consuming alcohol and carbonated beverages. You should also avoid smoking, spitting, and eating hot, spicy, tough, or chewy foods.

While it is only estimated that five to 10 percent of implants fail to fuse sufficiently with metal implants, it is still essential that you take proper care of your implants following surgery to ensure you avoid unnecessary complications. You can help protect not only your dental work but also your natural teeth by practicing excellent oral hygiene and brushing your teeth thoroughly, attending regular dentist appointments, and breaking damaging habits such as smoking and drinking caffeine as they may stain your teeth. Our team also recommends avoiding chewing hard candies and other tough foods that can crack or break your crowns, as this will help increase the longevity of your dental implants.