Tips To Help Your Dental Implant Sites Heal Successfully After Surgery
If you plan to replace your missing teeth with dental implants soon, you might worry about the outcome of your surgery. You may even wonder how you can help your implant sites heal after your procedure. Although dental implant surgery can be difficult on some individuals, you can get through your procedure without too many problems. Here are some tips you can follow after your dental implant surgery.
Maintain a Strong Diet
After a dentist inserts your dental implant posts into your jawbone, the surgery sites need time to heal. During the healing time, the metal posts bond with the cells and tissues of your jaw. A dentist will generally instruct you to keep your mouth clean with special tools during the healing time. You can also help your surgical sites heal properly by maintaining a strong diet.
Your jawbone needs calcium and vitamin D to support your natural teeth and dental implants. But, you also need other, less talked about nutrients to strengthen your jaws, including phosphorus and potassium. Phosphorus works directly with calcium to keep bone tissue strong and resilient. Potassium keeps your bone tissue thick, or dense. Bone tissue that becomes too thin or weak might not support your implants or teeth properly.
If you didn't do so yet, ask a dentist for a list of foods that contain phosphorus and potassium. The list may include sweet potatoes, lentils, and bananas. Most of your foods can be softened up enough to swallow, which keeps undue pressure from your healing dental implants.
Find Productive Ways to Relax
In addition to maintaining a strong diet, you should also find productive ways to relax. If you tend to worry about anything and everything, find more productive ways to relax after your implant surgery. Stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions can cause problems with your immune system. Your immune system can protect your body during times of need, but once the threat goes away, your immune system and the chemicals it makes return to normal. However, if you stay stressed out, your immune system remains on high alert during the healing phase, which may allow inflammation to build up in your implant sites.
You can keep your stress levels low and immune system in check by meditating or practicing yoga. These exercises help lower your blood pressure, increase positive energy through your body, and calm your mind. You also learn to slow down your stressful life with breathing exercises. If you have concerns about practicing yoga, consult with the dentist who performed your implant surgery. The practitioner may provide other ways to calm your stress.
To learn more about how to maintain a healthy mouth and body after dental implant surgery, contact a specialist, like the ones at Oral Surgery Center.