How to Make Dental Implants Last

When dental implants are placed successfully, more and more patients can speak, eat and chew once again- leading to a more comfortable and better quality of life.

How to Make Dental Implants Last

Good dental hygiene must be performed before, during, and after dental implant surgery to ensure the maintenance of the implant and the remaining natural teeth. But most patients are alarmed on what kind of maintenance their implants should require. Should the implant be brushed and flossed like regular teeth? What should they do when food gets underneath the prosthesis? Here is advice dental hygienists would give to make your implants last a lifetime.

Avoid smoking. Should you decide to get implants, decide to quit smoking completely. Sometimes, during the implant placement stage, the jawbone has failed to fuse satisfactorily to the metal implant. If you smoke, this can impede with the healing process and contribute to implant complications and failure. When osseointegration fails, your dentist will remove the implant, clean-up the bone and perform the procedure once again within a month or two.

Perform consistent oral hygiene. Like your natural teeth, you must keep your artificial teeth and gum tissue clean by using interdental brushes. This type of brush slides between your teeth, which can help clean every nook around your teeth, around the gum line and metal posts.

Use low-abrasive dental products. The tooth gel or paste must low-abrasive to avoid scratching the the surface of the dental implants. Avoid paste or powders (dentifrice) that has baking soda, sodium fluoride (APF >3.0), stannous fluoride, smoker’s toothpaste and stain removers.

Visit your dentist regularly. Schedule biannual or yearly check-ups to maintain proper functioning of your dental implants.

Avoid teeth-damaging habits. Avoid chewing hard candy or ice because doing so can break your natural teeth and dental crowns. Avoid too much caffeine and smoking (as stated above) because this causes damaging teeth stains. In case you suffer from teeth grinding, seek treatment immediately.

If you have further questions about maintaining your dental implants, please do not hesitate to contact us!