Caring for Your New Dental Implants at Home

Advances in cosmetic dentistry have brought many people a new reason to smile. Dental implants give those with missing teeth the chance to not just fill in the gap but to prevent bone loss and other issues that can arise when you have space where a tooth should be. Caring properly for your dental implants is important to ensure their continuing stability and attractiveness.

If you care for your mouth your implants (and your other teeth) will continue to serve you well. Almost everything you used to do to make sure your mouth stays clean is still in force with a few additional steps and tools.

1. Brush several times a day right after you eat a meal. For the safest cleaning, use a soft bristle brush or electric toothbrush. Be sure to address all sides of the implant when brushing.

2. Tartar-control and non-abrasive kinds of toothpaste are recommended by dentists. Tartar is a build-up of plaque that naturally clings to your tooth surfaces. If left to marinate, tartar hardens into plaque which is more difficult to remove and can cause periodontal diseases. Toothpaste that promise to whiten your smile may contain abrasives that scrub away stains and create a brighter smile. Unfortunately, the abrasive ingredients in whitening toothpaste can dull the shine on your new implant and wear away at the material of it as well.

3. For implants, take your flossing game to the next level by using a special brush called an interdental brush. These brushes do a better job than waxed floss on implants for several reasons. First, they are not as likely to injure the gums. It's all too easy to accidentally cut your gums with floss and that just opens the door for harmful bacteria to enter the gums and cause infections. Also, Floss does an adequate job of getting in between your front teeth and a poor job of getting in between the molars that have little to no space for cleaning.

Interdental brushes come in lots of sizes so a custom set of brushes is able to reach every in-between spot in your mouth.

4. Your dentist might recommend that you use an antimicrobial mouth rinse after your implants are complete. These are available under both brand names like Listerine and generics. Look for the ingredient chlorhexidine.

5. Avoid hard and crunchy foods like hard candy and ice. They can damage both your implant and your natural teeth.

For more tips on persevering and caring for your implant, speak to implant dentists through websites like https://www.pghdentalspa.com.

Share