One of the advantages of dental implants is their ease in care. Once implants are placed, they are as simple to care for as your natural teeth. But just as our natural teeth need daily cleaning and routine visits to the dentist, so do dental implants to assure they remain healthy and last a lifetime. Here are some basics to maintaining the continued good health and performance of your dental implants.

Oral Hygiene
Proper care of your implants is important to their continued functioning and good health. This begins with twice-daily brushing with a soft-bristled toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste, as well as daily flossing between teeth. As in the care of natural teeth, electric-powered toothbrushes have proven to be very effective in providing a thorough cleaning and preventing the build-up of plaque. Oral rinses are also a good idea following brushing to provide a final washing away of food particles from the mouth.

Signs that something could be wrong
While they are not subject to cavities as our natural teeth are, they can develop gum inflammation and infection can occur if you don’t practice a good oral health routine. Where localized inflammation and infection around your natural teeth is known as periodontal disease, a similar process can occur around dental implants and is known as peri-implantitis. This can be avoided by following the daily oral hygiene routine that is prescribed by your dentist or dental hygieniest. Common symptoms of peri-implantitis are:

1. Swollen gum tissue surrounding the implant
2. Bleeding gums while brushing teeth
3. Excess mucous or pus
4. Reddened appearance of the gums
5. Loosening or wobbling of the implant
6. Bad breath or foul taste
7. Pain – although this is considered to be a rare symptom that is usually linked to an acute infection

Dental Check-ups
Your “new teeth” will require regular checkups by your dentist to ensure the progress of the ‘osseointegration’ – the process where the implant merges with the bone. He will also be checking the health of the surrounding gums. It’s important to adhere to regular check-ups with your dental care team in the months following implant placement and at least once a year after that. The bonding process that occurs between the titanium implant device and the jawbone that the device is inserted into is known as osseointegration. After your implants are placed, the osseointegration process will take some time to allow for a strong and secure bond, which in turn provides the stability and strong functionality of the implant. It’s important for your dentist to evaluate and confirm that the integration is progressing normally and without problems. It’s unlikely that problems do occur but when they are detected early, they can be more easily treated.