After Placement of Dental Implants

Home Instructions After Dental Implant Surgery

After dental implant surgery, do not disturb the wound. Avoid rinsing, spitting, or touching the wound on the day of surgery. There may or may not be a metal healing abutment protruding through the gingival (gum) tissue.

Bleeding

A small amount of oozing/bleeding is normal for 24 hours. Excessive bleeding (your mouth fills rapidly with blood) can be controlled by biting on gauze placed directly on the bleeding wound for 60 minutes. If bleeding continues profusely, please call for further instructions.

Swelling

Swelling is a normal occurrence after surgery. To minimize swelling apply an ice bag, or a plastic bag or towel filled with ice, on the cheek in the area of surgery. Apply the ice for 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off schedule, as much as possible, for the first 24 hours.

Diet

Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid hot liquids or food. Soft food and liquids should be eaten on the day of surgery. 

  • Eat soft foods for the next 4-7 days. Anything that is fork tender is great such as noodles, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, soups, yogurt, avocado, soft, cooked vegetables and soft meats that pull apart easily.
  • Slowly advance your diet as comfort dictates after at least 4 days of exclusively soft food.
  • Avoid any food that is too hot, spicy, or crunchy/pokey, high in acidity and/or citrus for 2 weeks. These foods will irritate and hurt the surgical area.

Pain Control/prescribed medication use

  • Pain typically peaks on day 3 following surgery and will gradually improve thereafter. Surgery day is considered “Day 0”.
  • You can take 400mg Ibuprofen 4x a day if you have no kidney dysfunction or stomach ulcers. (DO NOT exceed 600mg every 6hrs.)
  • You can take 1000mg Tylenol 3x a day if you have no liver dysfunction. (DO NOT exceed 4000mg a day)
  • Take the Ibuprofen and Tylenol whether you are experiencing pain or not for the first 48 hours following your surgery. This will help reduce the inflammation that is present or may become present.
  • The antibacterial mouth rinse (Chlorhexidine) is to be started the morning following surgery and used 3 times per day for 10 days. No heavy swishing, just gentle rinsing.
  • If you were prescribed an antibiotic, take as directed on the bottle. **Note: Not every patient is prescribed an antibiotic.

Things to Avoid

  • Do not vigorously rinse or spit for 3-5 days and do not irrigate the surgical site.
  • Do not apply pressure with your tongue or fingers to the surgery area, as the implant has not solidified in your jawbone.
  • Do not lift or pull on the lip to look at the sutures. This can cause damage to the wound site and tear the sutures.
  • Avoid strenuous physical activity for 48hrs, this includes any activities which cause heavy breathing as this may cause renewed bleeding.
  • Smoking: Try not to smoke for the next 7 days as this will increase the chance for infection and implant failure. We would be happy to prescribe you nicotine patches if necessary.

Oral Hygiene

Please continue to brush your teeth as usual but be very gentle with your brushing the night of your surgery and when brushing near extraction site(s). We recommend using an extra soft bristled manual toothbrush, which is available at most grocery stores, for 7 days.  

Activity

Keep physical activities to a minimum immediately following surgery. If you exercise, throbbing or bleeding may occur. If this occurs, you should discontinue exercising. Keep in mind that you are probably not taking in normal nourishment. This may weaken you and further limit your ability to exercise.

Wearing your Prosthesis

Partial dentures, flippers, or full dentures, should not be used immediately after surgery unless specifically discussed with Dr. Kyles