Taking care of your dental implants and new teeth
Dental implants are an excellent way to replace lost teeth. Sheen Dental Implants in Richmond offers a number of implant-based treatments to replace anything from one to all of your natural teeth, no matter how you came to lose them.
Using dental implants gives you all the action and appearance of a second set of healthy adult teeth. They can be placed under local anaesthetic or conscious sedation at our Richmond dental clinic and, after a period of healing and integration, a single crown, a dental bridge, or dentures can be permanently attached to abutments on top of the implants.
As well as looking and functioning like natural teeth, dental implants require the same care and attention as their natural counterparts. It isn’t hard to look after dental implants, and both your dentist and hygienist at our Richmond practice will help you to create an efficient home cleaning plan.
In the short term, after your implants have been placed at our Richmond clinic, your dentist will give you detailed aftercare instructions, which you should follow to the letter.
This includes:
- Using any medicated mouthwash as directed
- Avoiding excessively hot or cold drinks until your gums have healed
- Eating soft foods for the first few days
- Not poking at the implant site with your tongue
- Using over-the-counter painkillers as directed, and revisiting your dentist if these don’t work
- Not wearing your old denture for a couple of days, until the gums have healed
Once your dental implants have healed and have been restored with permanent new teeth, you will need to take care of them as if they were your natural teeth. This includes visiting your Richmond dentist and hygienist for regular check-ups and professional tooth cleans.
Your new teeth can still attract a build-up of dental plaque if not cleaned properly, which can lead to gum disease if not treated. If gum disease played a role in your initial tooth loss, you won’t want to risk going through that ordeal again.
A condition similar to advanced gum disease can lead to implant failure, so always keep your teeth scrupulously clean and call your dentist if anything unusual happens.