When you get dental implants, you undergo oral surgery. As with all types of surgery, it is important to get the right amount of rest and to fully recover following your surgery. You will recover faster from your surgery when you know what to expect.
Expect Discomfort
Immediately after your surgery, your mouth will more than likely still be numb from the local numbing agent that the dentist applied before starting the surgery. It can take a few hours for the anesthetic to wear off and for the actual pain to set in. Although you will feel some pain, it shouldn't be too much for you to handle. You should be able to manage the pain with some Ibuprofen, which will help with both the pain and the inflammation.
Swelling Is Normal
It is normal to have some swelling in your mouth after you undergo dental implant surgery. To keep the swelling under control, take an ice pack and hold it to the outside of your mouth for about twenty minutes every few hours. You don't need to apply the ice directly to the surgery site inside of your mouth. This will help reduce the swelling and pain and help with the healing process.
Light Bleeding Is Common
After your surgery, you may experience a little light bleeding. Light bleeding usually occurs when the anesthetic is wearing off, or when you start moving your mouth around more, such as when you eat. The bleeding should stop by just putting a little gauze directly onto the site. If you are bleeding excessively, contact your oral surgeon.
Eat Soft Foods
You should eat what you feel comfortable eating, but generally, you are going to want to avoid hard and pokey foods, such as chips or hard candies, after your surgery. You want to eat foods that are soft on your mouth and easy to chew, such as soups, pasta, or smoothies.
When you eat, you may want to chew with the opposite side of your mouth from the one that was operated on. The important thing is to make sure that you are eating food with lots of nutrients that will help your body heal.
Go Light on the Dental Hygiene
After surgery, you need to be very gentle around the surgery site. You should brush your teeth, but very gently and with extreme caution near the surgery site. Saltwater rinses can really help keep the surgical area clean, as can prescription antibiotic mouthwashes. Avoid general commercial mouthwashes that may have ingredients that will run counter to the healing regime that you need.
Finally, make sure that you plan on getting a little more rest than normal for a couple of days. Getting a little extra rest in the first two days following your oral surgery will help with the recovery process.
Share25 November 2019
Do you have "bad teeth"? I do. Ever since I was a kid, every checkup turns up a number of issues ranging from cavities to dental fractures. It has always been frustrating to keep my smile in decent shape, which is one of the reasons I started focusing on understanding different dental problems. I wanted to know what I was getting into when I visited the doctor, so I began focusing on learning as much as I could. I wanted to create this blog all about dentistry so that other people could find out what to expect when they head to the dentist. Check it out!
