• Avoid eating until the effects of the anaesthesia have passed to prevent potential injury to your mouth, lips, or tongue.
• Do not rinse your mouth with mouthwash in the first 24 hours after the procedure.
• Fold a piece of sterile gauze and put it over the implant site and apply some biting pressure for 30-45 minutes. This can help to ease any bleeding.
• Apply an ice pack to the side of your mouth where the implant was fitted to reduce the swelling. Continue doing this at 10-minute intervals for the first 12 hours after treatment.
• Take one to two painkillers every 4-6 hours. DO NOT take medication containing acetylsalicylic acids, such as aspirin, as they can prolong bleeding.  
• Hot and carbonated beverages and grainy foods should be avoided as they can accumulate in the wound and cause complications. 
• Avoid smoking for at least five days after treatment. Many dentists even recommend avoiding smoking for a month after surgery.
• Avoid exercise and intense physical activities for three days after the procedure.

Post Op Instructions for Dental Implant Care

Once you’re through the initial recovery period, it’s important to ensure that you continue to look after your newly fitted implants. There are a few points to bear in mind here.

Choose the right toothbrush: Depending on how many dental implants you have, Dr. Cesar Tapia may recommend choosing a new toothbrush. When doing so, it’s important to pay particular attention to the brush fiber that the toothbrush has. You should try to pick one with fibers that are:

• Dense: To effectively clean the entire surface of the tooth.
• Thin: To be able to enter harder-to-reach places.
• Soft: To help prevent causing damage to the implants or gums when brushing.

Be Strict With Your Cleaning Regime: Regular cleaning should be one of the biggest parts of your dental implant post-op care regime. Make sure that you’re cleaning at least twice a day, carefully brushing under and around the implant and crown. Daily flossing when you have dental implants is important too, as plaque can build up fairly easily around the implants. Dr. Cesar Tapia also recommends BLAST, with your routine hygiene visits on an annual basis.

Cut Down on Smoking: Not only should smoking be avoided in the weeks following your surgery, but Dr. Cesar Tapia also recommends cutting back on smoking as much as possible for your overall health. Smoking has been shown to negatively affect the success of the dental implant treatment and often leads to implant failure.

Invest In a Mouthguard: Mouthguards are proven to help with the overall success of a dental implant, by alleviating stress that the implant may bear from the force of unwanted clenching or grinding while sleeping.

Don’t Skip the Checkups: To monitor the condition of your implant(s), regular check-ups are vital. These allow Dr. Cesar Tapia to detect signs of potential problems in their early stages and treat them before they become a bigger issue. Regular checkups also allows our team of hygienists to perform routine cleanings to remove hard and soft dental plaque that can potentially become more serious if left untreated.