How to Prevent Dental Implant Failure

If you are looking for the most comprehensive benefits from your tooth replacement, your dentist will likely suggest dental implants. These fixtures can replace one, several, or an entire arch of missing teeth. They will restore the function, appearance, and health of your smile in the wake of tooth loss.

Your dentist will perform an oral exam to ensure your jaw can support an implant. But sometimes, a dental implant might fail and require removal by your dentist.

You can lower your risk of this occurring by taking care of your smile after this procedure. Read on to find tips to protect your dental implant after tooth replacement treatment and prevent failure of this oral device.

implant dentistry aftercare tips

Lower Your Risk of Failing Dental Implants

Follow Aftercare Guidelines from Your Dentist

Your dentist will thoroughly evaluate your jaw, gum, and dental health to ensure you are a good candidate for implant dentistry before beginning the dental implant process. But through each step of this treatment, you will want to follow your dentist’s instructions to best preserve your fixture and your oral health.

When you receive the anchor for the implant during oral surgery, your mouth will need a few months to recover from this process. The anchor will fuse with the jawbone during this healing period, establishing support for the dental prosthetic.

As it heals, be gentle with the surgical sites. But you will still need to continue good oral hygiene to keep the area clean. Your dentist will provide guidelines for caring for the fixtures during this time. The sites may feel sore as they heal, but your dentist can give you pain management methods.

When you receive dental prosthetics from your dentist after you recover, you will need to continue taking care of your implants. They will require no extra maintenance steps, but you should keep up with good oral hygiene.

Visit your dentist for routine check-ups which will include teeth cleanings and an exam to ensure your implants function as they should. Tell your dentist if the implants feel extremely painful, bleed, or feel ill-fitting. These could point to issues with the fixtures that will need removal or amendment from a dentist.

Continue Healthy Preventative Dental Care

As mentioned, you will need to attend regular appointments with your dentist for optimal preventative dental care if you want to preserve your dental implants. These will involve a thorough cleaning of your smile as well as a comprehensive oral health exam. Your overall dental health can impact your implants. So you should keep taking care of your smile after this tooth replacement process.

While you do not require extra maintenance for your dental implants, you should practice good oral hygiene. This will mean brushing your teeth twice each day and flossing daily.

Your dentist might suggest special brushes or floss to better clean your smile near your dental implant. You can proceed with your usual diet and oral function after your implant heals. But contact your dentist if you notice any problems.