Assuming they’re well-placed, your dental implants should be highly effective in the long run. Just don’t forget that they’ll only succeed once you heal from your placement surgery. You’ll need to properly recover before you can enjoy your new teeth and their many perks. Luckily, you can trust your Falls Church dentist to help you with that phase of your care. Read on to learn four things you shouldn’t do after dental implant surgery.
Don’t Smoke or Drink
After your surgery, you may feel tempted to “take the edge off” and have a cigarette or a drink. You should resist that impulse to ensure your implants work.
The issue is that tobacco and alcohol are harmful after an implant surgery. By smoking a cigarette or cigar, you could keep your mouth from healing and cause your new teeth to fail. Similarly, drinking alcoholic beverages would delay your recovery or even prevent the fusion of your implant posts.
Don’t Use Drinking Straws
Even if you like them a lot, please don’t use drinking straws for a while. They’d get in the way of your new dental implants’ success.
You see, a blood clot has to form after your implant surgery. It ensures your treatment site heals smoothly and without any major complications. If you use a drinking straw, its suction force could keep the clot from forming correctly and cause a dry socket. Those issues would lead to severe oral pain and other harsh effects.
Don’t Eat Risky Meals
While you must eat after your surgery, avoid hot or hard foods for a few days. Adding them to your meals would threaten your dental implants.
Hot and hard foods don’t mix well with recently-placed implant posts. Due to their temperature and texture (respectively), they’d irritate the gums around your implants or dislodge your blood clot. It’d be much better to follow a soft food diet in the days following your surgery. After all, softer meals let your mouth heal easily and without obstacles.
Don’t Exercise
Exercise can be a great hobby and distraction, but don’t do it right after surgery. An intense workout won’t do your new implant posts any favors.
Keep in mind that strong physical activity elevates blood flow. As that effect takes place, it could lead to bleeding around your implant site. The overall result would be a delayed recovery or even implant failure, so don’t try intense exercise for 2-3 days after surgery.
By avoiding the things above after dental implant surgery, your new teeth should thrive. Just talk to your dental provider if you have further questions about them.
About the Practice
DentaCrafters PLLC is based in Falls Church, VA. Led by Drs. Nada and Duckett, our practice aims to “craft” the best dental experiences possible for patients. That means we perform custom treatments that span preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, as well as emergency oral work. Our office is also proud to offer start-to-finish dental implant treatments! For more details or to book a visit, please reach us on our website or by phone at (703)-241-5775.