Foods to Avoid After Dental Implant Surgery

Dental implant surgery offers a safe, effective way to replace missing teeth both above and below the gumline. While they boast an overwhelming success rate of over 95%, proper aftercare is essential for ensuring lasting results and preventing painful infections. This means that as you recover, it’s important that you eat carefully. Thankfully, with a little preparation, you can enjoy an easy, complication-free recovery! Here are some side-effects you can expect and a few tips for eating after getting dental implants in Washington DC.

Common Side-Effects of Dental Implant Surgery

Thanks to modern dental techniques and state-of-the-art technology, dental implant surgery is extremely safe, and most people don’t develop any complications. However, it’s completely natural to experience a few side-effects for several days after rebuilding your smile. Here are the most common symptoms patients experience after dental implant surgery and a few tips to manage them:

• Mild to moderate soreness: Once the anesthetic from your procedure wears off, it’s completely normal to feel some discomfort in the area around your dental implant, including the gum tissue, bone, and nearby teeth. Choosing the right foods, using over-the-counter pain medication, and applying ice packs periodically will help ease your symptoms.
• Minor bleeding: You may notice some bleeding or oozing for 48-72 hours after your surgery. Continue to bite down on a clean piece of gauze for an hour at a time until the bleeding has stopped.
• Swelling in the gums and face: Post-op swelling can occur in the face as well as the mouth. Typically, it will last for about one to two weeks, with improvements from day to day. While time is the best remedy for this side-effect, you can also apply a cold compress for 15-20 minutes on, then 15-20 minutes off.

What Foods to Avoid After Dental Implant Surgery

A large part of a successful recovery is what you eat after your dental implant surgery. Eating or drinking the wrong items won’t just be uncomfortable. It can also slow down the healing process, cause more bleeding, and leave your mouth vulnerable to infection and dental implant failure. After your dental implant surgery, be sure to avoid:

• Drinking through a straw, which can irritate the implant site.
• Varieties of smoothies, yogurts, and other foods that have small seeds or grains in them.
• Hard, crunchy snacks that disrupt healing and potentially lodge small bits into the implant site.
• Sticky or chewy items that can tug on the implant or get stuck behind teeth.
• Alcoholic beverages, which will disturb the wound and prevent proper healing.
• Over-indulging in sugary snacks, which will fuel bacteria and increase your risk of infection.

To keep your dental implant firmly in place for decades to come, it’s essential that you take proper care of it as you recover from surgery. Keep these simple tips in mind and you’ll be enjoying all your favorite foods again with your newly rebuilt smile in no time!

About the Practice

Aesthetic & Family Dentistry Specialists is proud to serve the families of Washington, DC with an array of dental treatments. Thanks to our team’s advanced training and state-of-the-art technology, we’ve restored countless smiles with the help of dental implants. We’ll be with you every step of the way during your dental implant treatment, from consultation, to recovery, to final restoration to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible. To learn more, feel free to contact us via our website or at (202) 364-8209.