What You Can Expect From Your Dental Implant Surgery
What's scarier—seeing yourself in the mirror with missing teeth or having to get dental implants? The good news about dental implant sis that the surgical process may not be quite as intense as you think. With the proper care and attention to your mouth while it heals, you can get your healthy smile back in no time. From the pre-surgery to the post-surgery aspects of the procedure, what can you expect from it all?
Pre-Surgery
prior to surgery, your dentist may encourage you to refrain from eating certain foods for a few hours before the procedure. Depending on the type of anesthesia they are using will determine just what kinds of steps you need to take to prepare. Since your tooth will already have been pulled (if needed), there isn't much that you will have to do.
Surgery
One thing to know about dental implant surgery is that it's typically performed in two different stages. With several months in between the stages, it gives patients' mouths plenty of time to properly heal before their dentist can determine how successful the implant is going to be.
The first stage of the procedure is going to be the most painful and will take the longest. The good news about this step is that your entire mouth should be numb so that you don't feel a thing. This step is where your dentist will place the implant inside of your gums. The implant basically is like a screw that's placed inside of your gums which acts as an anchor. To ensure that you can move onto the next step of the procedure, your dentist will have you follow thorough recovery tips.
Post-Surgery
Immediately following surgery, you should refrain from eating certain foods. Because your mouth will be healing, you will want to avoid eating foods that are hard to chew or that can get stuck inside of the incisions. Immediately after you eat, you should either rinse with water or use a syringe to clean around the incision site. To help ease pain and swelling the first few days after surgery, try to take an over-the-counter medication like ibuprofen and then use ice as well. The combination of these two things will help you heal faster and feel like yourself in no time.
If you can, try to take the surgery day off of work, but you should be able to go back the next day. To help speed up your recovery, avoid smoking or using tobacco products. And, if you have any questions about how well your mouth is healing, reach out to dental clinics like Apollo Dental Center.