What Is The Dental Implant Recovery Process Like?

After your initial dental implant surgery, you will need to recover for about 1-2 weeks. You may experience some pain, discomfort, bleeding, bruising, and swelling for a few days, but this will begin to fade quickly. Most patients feel better within a week, and are fully healed within 2 weeks.

During this time, you will need to follow instructions from Dr. King to recover properly, such as resting and avoiding heavy physical activity for a few days, eating mostly soft foods, and cleaning your teeth and implant site properly. She will provide you with a full set of rules, guidelines, and advice after your surgery.

Do Dental Implants Really Last A Lifetime?

Yes. Dental implants will last you a lifetime as long as they heal properly and bond (osseointegrate) with your natural jaw bone. The unique properties of titanium mean that your body treats the implant just like a natural part of the jaw, and once the bone heals around it, the implant will be permanently locked into place.

This means that as long as you care for your mouth properly and avoid issues like peri-implantitis (gum infection around your dental implant), the implant will continue to stay strong, and will never shift, move, or fail.

To make sure your smile stays strong, we recommend brushing twice a day, flossing once a day, and seeing Dr. Kimberly Clark every six months for a consultation. Make sure to follow any advice and recommendations she gives you during your routine preventive checkups, too.

Are Dental Implants Permanent?

Yes. Dental implants are, for all intents and purposes, permanent. Unless your implant is actually failing or is damaged, your dentist will likely never recommend that they be removed, even if you decide you want your implant removed for some reason.

This is because the implant permanently bonds with your jaw, as mentioned above. This means that extracting it from your jaw is not easy. Removing a healthy implant would require removing a lot of the surrounding jaw tissue to get it to release from your mouth, which could lead to other oral health complications.

Because of this, implants are only usually removed when the treatment is failing due to an allergic reaction in the body, improper healing, or an issue like peri-implantitis. A healthy implant should never be removed.

Dentures Vs. Implant-Supported Dentures – Why Is Implant-Supported Better?

There are a few reasons. First, implant-supported dentures will never move or shift in your mouth, so you can chew, eat, and speak with more confidence. Implant-supported dentures usually also require less maintenance and care compared to traditional dentures.

But the biggest benefit is that implant-supported dentures help support the strength of your jaw bone. The implants used in the treatment help stimulate your jaw and prevent “bone resorption,” a common issue that weakens your jaw bone after tooth loss. Traditional dentures don’t help prevent this, which can lead to major changes in your appearance over time.

Costs Of Dental Implants/Implant-Supported Dentures

The cost of dental implants and implant-supported dentures is different for each patient depending on the specifics of their case. If you would like to find out how much treatment would cost in your situation, we recommend contacting Kitty Hawk Dental Care online to schedule a consultation with Dr. Kimberly King.