Dental implants are prosthetics that replace missing restoring functionality and aesthetics. They improve oral health and prevent future dental health issues like misalignment. In addition, dental implants look natural and are incredibly durable. Continue reading to learn why you should get dental implants in Spring.

Importance of Dental Implants for Oral Health

Replacing missing or severely damaged teeth benefits your oral and overall health. Below are facts showing the importance of dental implants in improving oral health.

  1. Restore decayed or damaged teeth

The dentist will extract any severely damaged or decayed teeth and replace them with implants. Once the teeth are replaced, no further decay or tooth damage occurs. In addition, the implants protect the health of surrounding teeth, gums and jaws.

  1. Improve oral hygiene

Having decayed or missing teeth increases the risk of oral health diseases. For instance, decayed teeth cause intense pain and may make it difficult to brush and floss. Consequently, the decay spreads and can even cause gum disease.

In addition, it is difficult to clean your teeth when missing teeth. So, bacteria, food debris and plaque are trapped in the gaps, making you prone to oral health issues. Getting implants eliminates these risks by making it easier to maintain proper oral hygiene.

  1. Promote healthy eating

It can be hard and painful to eat with damaged or missing teeth. So, you will opt for easy-to-chew foods or foods that do not increase your discomfort. As a result, you may not consume a balanced diet good for your teeth and gums. Dental implants function like natural teeth. They enable you to consume a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients. So you will have healthy teeth, jaws and gums.

  1. Prevent teeth shifting

When you have a gap in the socket, the surrounding teeth usually shift into the gap. This affects the dental alignments and increases the risk of tooth loss. Misaligned teeth are difficult to clean, making you prone to decay and gum disease. Implants prevent surrounding teeth from shifting since they fill the gap with a tooth-like prosthetic.

Recovery and Aftercare for Dental Implants

You will not experience any pain or discomfort during an implant surgery by the dentist in 77388. However, once the anesthetics wear off, you will have pain at the surgical site. It will increase within the next 72 hours afterwards. In addition, you will experience swelling of the gums and face and minor bleeding. Fortunately, these side effects can be managed easily.

Various factors determine recovery after getting implants. They include the quality of the jawbone, complexity of the procedure, number of implants and aftercare provided. For example, if you get a bone graft before implants, your recovery period will be extended.

Generally, the gums and area around the implant will have healed fully within two weeks. However, the implant heals and fuses with the bone slowly over the next 3-6 months. Below are implant aftercare tips which, when followed, result in a quick and easy recovery.

  1. Eat soft and liquid foods only for the first three days after surgery. Introduce firmer foods like pasta and rice on the fourth day. You can eat hard and crunchy foods two weeks after surgery but chew with the side opposite the implant only.
  2. Avoid heavy exertion until a week after surgery to prevent excess bleeding and pain.
  3. Brush, rinse and floss as usual. But avoid cleaning the implant site directly for at least a week after the procedure. Wait until the area has healed significantly to start brushing it directly.
  4. Do not chew tobacco or smoke, as they reduce the flow of blood through the jaw, slowing down the healing process.
  5. Take all the prescribed medicines on time to relieve pain and prevent inflammation.
  6. Avoid chewing hard things, drinking with a straw and spitting forcefully. Also, avoid taking hot foods and beverages, brushing or touching the implant site. Doing these things can interfere with clot formation or dislodge the clot at the socket. As a result, you can get a dry socket condition, which is painful and delays healing.
  7. Attend a follow-up visit after about two weeks at Immediate Smiles Dentures & Dentistry. The dental professionals will check your healing and recovery process. If non-dissolving sutures were used, they would remove them. You can visit the experts earlier if you experience continuous pain, bleeding and swelling of the face and gums.