Dental Implant Post Operative Care Instructions

POST OPERATIVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR DENTAL IMPLANTS

Dental implants have been placed in your mouth. The implants may be located above or below the tissue. This type of implant has been selected for your particular situation because of the bone available to place an implant. Here are some things to expect after your surgery:

Numbness: Your mouth will be numb approximately two to four hours. Do not bite, scratch, or injure the cheek, lips, or tongue during this time. You can carefully drink little sips of water during this time but avoid eating. Please call our office if your numbness has persisted more than a day.

 BLEEDING: Some bleeding is expected after surgery. We ensure that initial clotting has been achieved when you are dismissed from the office. You may continue to experience some bleeding for next 24-48 hours especially when you spit. It is advised to swallow most of your saliva as spitting can promote bleeding. If you notice you have a mouth full of blood, please pack the bleeding site with extra gauze and bite under pressure for 20-30 minutes. You may notice some bruising of you face or neck which is not unusual. Please call our office immediately if bleeding continues.

SWELLING: Some swelling is expected which may get worse in 24-48 hours and then typically starts to subside. Using cold packs after surgery help reduce swelling. If your swelling has not reduced after 72 hours, please call our office.

MEDICATION: Following medications are typically prescribed/recommended:

1. Pain: Mild to moderate degree of pain is expected after implant surgery. Your dentist may prescribe prescription pain meds of over-the-counter medicines for pain management.
2. Antibiotics: Prophylactic Antibiotics may be prescribed after implant surgery and your dentist may consider a loading dose prior to your surgery. Please follow directions on the prescription.
3. Mouthwash: Chlorhexidine mouthwash may also be prescribed. You will GENTLY rinse 3 times daily starting the first night with 10 ml of the mouthwash for 30-60 seconds and then spit. Use this for 2 weeks.

DIET: For first 2-3 days, soft, non-chewy diet is advised. After that, you can gradually resume your normal diet seeing your comfort. You may avoid the side of surgery for a few days. Avoid hot and very cold beverages during this period. Avoid drinking through straws. SMOKING/ALCOHOL: Avoid smoking and alcohol for 2-3 days. Smoking in general will reduce chances of implant success. HYGIENE: You can resume your routine oral care from next morning. Brush and rinse gently around area of surgery for a few days until comfortable to brush normally. ACTIVITY: Its best to take rest for 2-3 days and avoid exercise, heavy lifting and strenuous work during this time.

IMPLANTS WITH DENTURES: It is best practice to avoid eating/chewing with dentures over implants to reduce pressure on the implants, which may interfere with healing and may cause some bone loss around implants. If you have implants placed under a denture, you may be advised to avoid chewing with your dentures for first 2 weeks. You may continue with soft diet after that for another 2-4 weeks. At this point, you should be able to resume your normal denture diet.  Your dentures will be soft relined to improve their fit.

SUTURES/FOLLOW UP: We will do an initial follow up in 10-14 days for suture removal and to evaluate healing. If sutures are irritating your tongue, lip or cheeks, you can gently apply some Vaseline over them or call us for further instructions. A second follow up will be done in 3-4 months to evaluate for placement of final prosthesis. Please do not hesitate to call our office anytime at 281-233-0333 if you have any Questions or concerns.