Dental implants, made up of porcelain or ceramic materials, can replace and replicate the function of your original teeth – allowing you to resume your normal mouth function without any difficulty. But once you get dental implant surgery, you'll want to take as much care to ensure your recovery is as successful as the procedure itself. Follow these steps:

Avoid Food Until The Anaesthetic Wears Off

You will want to avoid eating anything until the local anaesthetic wears off completely, which may take a few hours. This is because the area is completely numb and you have no control over your mouth movement, so you could accidentally bite down on your tongue or aggravate the surgery area without realising it. The dental implant area will also be extra sensitive for a few days so avoid having anything too hot—whether food or drink. Instead cold drinks and cold food are better for recovery since they help to soothe your discomfort. Avoid touching the area with your fingers because you could end up spreading an unnecessary infection.

Use Cold Or Ice Packs To Soothe Any Swelling

After you undergo dental implant surgery, swelling is likely to develop over the bruised area. This is part of the recovery process and is quite normal. But swelling can be uncomfortable so you may want to apply cold or ice packs to soothe this discomfort. The swelling will subside after a few days, but follow your dentist's instructions for applying these cold packs to the surgery area. You may also need to sleep slightly propped up to ease the swelling after the surgery. If the swelling gets too uncomfortable or appears redder than usual, make sure you talk to your dentist as you may have developed an infection.

Follow The Medication Schedule Prescribed By Your Dentist

Your dentist will provide a combination of painkillers and antibiotics to help with the pain from the surgery and to speed up the recovery process. Make sure you follow this medication schedule properly for the best recovery results. You must always complete your antibiotic course—even if you are feeling better midway—to ensure you kill all the bacteria. Any surviving bacteria, if you fail to complete the course, will cause an infection that cannot be treated by the same antibiotic again. You'll also want to avoid taking excessive painkillers if possible to avoid building up resistance—make sure you only take them if absolutely necessary.

Follow these steps to properly recover from your dental implant surgery.

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