Let’s be honest: the last time you felt this confident smiling was back in college.
Now that you have your new dental implants, you can smile, laugh, show off those pearly whites at any moment, and you won’t feel embarrassed or ashamed. You made your smile great again. But it would be unfortunate if suddenly your dental implants didn’t afford you the opportunity to smile with ease. This is because you failed to properly take care of your dental implants, refraining from following instructions and advice by your dentist.
You went through a lot of hassle to get your dental implants – both time and money. So why do you want to risk damaging your dental implants by not taking care of them? Here are five maintenance tips to keep your dental implants looking great:
1. Embrace an Oral Hygiene Regimen
For years, you failed to correctly maintain the health of your teeth and gums. You brushed once a day…and that’s about it. You didn’t rinse or floss, and that’s a no-no in dental hygiene.
Well, since dental implants have given you a second chance in dental hygiene, you should begin to embrace a proper and thorough oral hygiene regimen. Moving forward, you should brush twice a day, use mouthwash, floss before bead and rinse your mouth with water after each meal.
That’s it.
2. Keep Your Appointments with the Dentist
Whether you have an appointment every three months or just twice a year, it is imperative to keep your appointments with the dentist or dental hygienist. By having your regularly scheduled cleanings or examinations, you can ensure that your dental implants, and your natural teeth, are in great shape. If something is wrong then it can be tackled almost immediately.
3. Be Careful What You Eat
Gum, nuts, popcorn, ice.
What you eat can seriously impact not only your natural teeth but also your dental implants. Perhaps it is time that you take a second look at what you imbibe on a daily basis. Yes, you may enjoy popcorn at the pictures or nuts at the ballgame, but it may not be a wise thing to do for your dental health.
Remember, it may have been these dietary habits that contributed to the downfall of your teeth.
4. How Do You Sleep at Night?
We may not realize it because we are unconscious every night, but how we sleep can also play an important role in the health of dental implants as well as the rest of your teeth.
Clenching and/or grinding are pretty common for the average person when they’re sleeping. These habits that you’re unaware of doing when your eyes are shut can erode your teeth, including the dental implants. If that is the case then maybe you need a mouth guard.
If so, be sure to ask your dentist.
5. Take Care of Your Overall Health
Lastly, and perhaps the most important recommendation, you should take care of your overall health. Everything from what foods you consume to how you live your daily life to unhealthy behaviours you may have, a paucity of a healthy lifestyle can impact not just your overall body but also your teeth.
Indeed, if you have been diagnosed with diabetes or heart disease, then these illnesses or conditions may slow down the healing process once the dental implant has been installed, which then poses a higher risk of periodontal disease. Take care of yourself.
Now that you have replaced your worn down, broken teeth with new dental implants, you can smile again. Just when you thought you would never smile again, this procedure has helped you.
Moving forward, it is entirely up to you to ensure that you will stay smiling. Brushing, flossing, eating right, mouth guards. There are so many measures you can employ to make sure that your oral investment will remain intact and pay dividends down the road.
