The healing time for a dental implant can vary depending on the amount of surgery needed. The good news is that despite the severity, you can do things to help speed the recovery process. Whether you’re careful with what you eat or stop smoking, you can recover from your dental implant surgery ahead of schedule.
Listen Your Dentist’s Advice
Your dentist will provide you with a care sheet that you should follow exactly. Not following these directions will make it much harder for your mouth to heal and it could take longer than estimated. Chances are this will mean doing much of the following.
Be Careful What You Eat
Your care sheet will more than likely instruct that you only eat soft foods for the first few days after surgery. After which, you will not be able to eat sharp foods, such as potato chips, or foods that are hard to eat, such as popcorn. It is also suggested that you refrain from dairy products as they can cause nausea and you do not want to throw up during the healing process. You can eat yogurt and frozen yogurt, but only if your body is accustomed to eating these foods. If not, you may make yourself sick. Another thing to avoid is foods and drinks that have citric acid. Do make sure to get plenty of fluids in the form of juices, tea, and water.
Stop Smoking
You should have actually stopped smoked before the surgery. If you did, now is not the time to start back up. You need to refrain from smoking until you are completely healed. The biggest concern, besides the number of health complications, is that nicotine disrupts the flow of blood to the mouth, greatly affecting the time it takes you mouth to heal.
Practice Good Dental Hygiene
You need to continue to take care of your teeth by brushing, flossing, and rinsing. Take this time to pick up better habits. Brush and floss after each meal and morning and night. The cleaner your mouth, the better chance your mouth has to heal after your dental implant procedure. When you allow food particles to build up in your mouth and rot, it creates bacteria that will length the recovery process.
Take Antibiotics as Prescribed
It is imperative that you take antibiotics as prescribed. You also need to take all of them. The antibiotics will kill the bad bacteria in your mouth so that you heal faster. It is recommended that you take probiotics to counteract the negative effects of the antibiotics.
A dental implant is serious surgery, but you can greatly reduce the time it takes to heal by following these steps.
