Missing a tooth affects not just your physical appearance, but also your eating habits, speech, and self-confidence. Replacing it with a reliable and permanent dental appliance like dental implants may sound expensive and luxurious. But if you know the benefits you may reap after this exceptional restorative procedure, you will consider it as a worthy option. The thing is, there are talks about post implant surgery pain. Is it true? Should I expect dental implant procedure pain during and after the surgery? If you need more information about implants, we suggest visiting your dentist. If you’re looking for a clinic near VIC, you can go to OakleighSmiles.com.au today.
Dental Implant Surgery
We can think of several benefits that you can get if you replace your missing teeth with dental implants. As we mentioned, a dental implant as your tooth replacement option not only looks and feels like your natural teeth, but also works and performs like it.
Dental implant surgery is done by surgically placing the implant in your jawbone to act as a post or foundation of your tooth replacement. It replicates how your tooth root gets embedded and attached to the jaws. After several weeks or months of waiting for your bones to grow and surround your implant, your dentist then attaches the connector and the crown to the metal post to complete the process.
The crown resembles the shape, size, and color of your missing tooth, thereby perfectly replacing it and blending in with your other natural teeth.
Does Dental Implant Surgery Procedure Hurt?
The answer is no if the topic revolves around the ‘during surgery’ part. Your dentist or implant surgeon numbs your mouth with local or general anesthesia. Believe us when we say that the whole implant surgery will not commence until you are completely numb in the implant site or the area where the implant will be placed.
Even after the implant surgery procedure, your dentist should make sure that his prescription for pain is potent enough to handle any post-procedural pain. Because, like any other dental surgery, dental implant placement requires incisions and manipulations of the bone, gums, and other surrounding tissues of the mouth. Check out this link if you want to know if dental implants are safe.
Dental Implant Procedure Pain
If pain after dental implant surgery became notoriously normal, why would many people still worry about feeling different after this tooth replacement procedure? Well, the problem lies in the source of the pain. Here are some of the negative sources of pain after a dental implant surgery procedure.
Infection
Because implant placement requires manipulation of deep tissues and bones, the exposure of your wound to foreign bodies like your food and drinks may affect its integrity. A person who underwent implant surgery should double his efforts in maintaining proper dental hygiene. He should also follow the advice of his dentist on how to care for his dental implants.
Gum Recession
Months after you get your dental implants, you may notice that they blend really well with your healthy natural teeth. Their positioning completely fuses them to your teeth alignment and gums; it is as if you did not lose a tooth!
The problem comes when the gums surrounding your dental implant begin to recede, exposing your tooth replacement to bacteria that leads to infection. Pain and inflammation typically follow once infection develops, so you should immediately seek assistance and let your dentist assess and address your gum recession to save your dental implant.
Looseness of Implant
After the implant gets surgically attached to your jaws, your dentist expects it to fuse with the jawbone to solidify and become stable like your natural tooth root. If the implant becomes loose, two things may be considered the culprit.
If it happened just several months after completing your dental implant surgery procedure, the bone osseointegration may not have been fully complete, so the implant got loose. On the other hand, if the loose implant happened years or decades after the implant surgery, then the bone integrity may have weakened, or you may have been negligent in taking care of your teeth, damaging your implant. Whichever it is, removal of your implant becomes imminent.
Typical Dental Implant Procedure Pain Symptoms
After your dental implant surgery, many people report that they have slight to moderate discomfort in the mouth. While the recovery period differs depending on the location of your implant and your pain threshold, the symptoms of complaints dental patients verbalize are almost the same.
- Tenderness on the area of the implant surgery
- Mild bleeding
- Bruise formation on the gum and cheek
- Swelling
Your dentist may recommend taking a break from work during your recovery period, as well as a change on your diet to soft foods. But don’t worry! You should give your gums and jawbone time to recover, typically 2 to 6 months may be needed, and your dental implants can become as solid and as strong as your natural teeth!
Taking Care of your Dental Implants
Now that we have determined the possible problems causing your dental implant procedure pain, it should be easier for us to given emphasis on how we should take care of our missing tooth replacement appliances.
Your implant surgeon knows how you should best treat your implants. You should put to heart all his aftercare advice and instructions, such as:
- Avoiding foods and drinks with extreme temperatures for a few days after your implant surgery.
- Avoiding any exertion of force that can affect the blood flow to your teeth so as to prevent swelling.
- Ceasing any smoking habits.
- Flossing in between the implant like how you do with your other natural teeth daily.
- Following your scheduled dental follow-ups so your dentist can monitor the integrity of your newly placed dental implants.
Although your dental implants look, feel, and function like your natural teeth, you should still put to mind that they are foreign appliances in your mouth. It is just right that you cautiously require additional care when using them and caring for them.
References:
https://www.medicinenet.com/how_painful_are_dental_implants/article.htm
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/dental-implant-surgery/about/pac-20384622
https://www.healthline.com/health/dental-implant-problems
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/dental-implants-problems