What To Do and Who To See to MaintainYour Dental Implants



While it’s absolutely true that dental implants near you are designed and intended to be a life-long solution to tooth loss, that doesn’t mean that you can ignore them for the rest of your life. Your implants will replace your teeth and the roots of those teeth as if they are natural tissue while restoring your complete dental function. To make sure that they do so while keeping you healthy, here are some essential tips to follow about maintaining and monitoring your implants.

How often should you go to the dentist about your implants?

Be sure to attend regular dental checkups with your family or general dentist twice annually. Your dentist and their team will do everything possible to keep your mouth free of bacteria that can contribute to tooth decay and gum disease. Since you have implants, though, you shouldn’t stop there. 

You should also see your implant specialist once a year in addition to your general or family dentist. Your implant specialist will ensure the implants fused (and remain fused) to your jaw bone tissue and that your implants have not sustained any damage. Your specialist and family or general dentist will work together to prevent any development of implant-related infections discussed below. 

What do you need to do to care for your implants?

To keep your implants and restorations clean and to avoid the accumulation of plaque, tartar and gum disease, brush your implants just like you would natural teeth — or even better. Use a soft toothbrush and brush your implants gently for at least two minutes with a low abrasive and tartar control toothpaste. 

Flossing is just as important with implants as with your own natural teeth. When flossing, be sure to get between each tooth (natural or artificial) and along the edge of your gums against every tooth (natural or artificial). The flossing technique is a little different with implants, so ask your dentist or implant specialist to demonstrate. 

Rather than relying entirely on brushing and flossing to eliminate all food particles, acids and harmful bacteria from your mouth, consider using an antimicrobial mouthwash occasionally. To really ramp up your oral hygiene habits and results, ask a dentist near you to recommend a water pik-type implement that will use gently pressurized water to rinse all surfaces in your mouth. Water piks aren’t a substitute for brushing and flossing but can help in hard to reach areas and to ensure you’ve cleaned every surface effectively.

What are the risks of neglecting your implants?

Neglecting your dental implants leads to similar problems as neglecting your oral health generally — the accumulation of bacteria near and on your gums. That accumulation of bacteria around the gum tissues adjacent to your implacts can produce peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis.

In its early and less serious form, peri-implant disease presents as peri-implant mucositis. That’s when the gums around your implant get inflamed and produce symptoms a lot like gingivitis: gums near the implant, tenderness and bloody gums while flossing and brushing. Peri-implant mucositis can, like gingivitis, be reversed without causing any long-term or permanent effects if you and your dentist act quickly when symptoms are noticed. 

The more serious form of peri-implant disease is peri-implantitis, a condition that does not just affect your gums near your implant but that also causes degradation of the jaw bone that holds the implant (the “root”) in position in your jaw. If you develop peri-implantitis, you may require surgery to remove the implant and treat the infection before replacing your missing tooth again. What are the symptoms of peri-implantitis? Pus and a foul taste in your mouth. Swollen and red gum tissue; Bloody gums when brushing, flossing and simply touching them. A dull ache in your jaw and throat. Swollen lymph nodes indicating an infection.

Maintaining your dental implants in Yellowknife is simple, and essential. Your implant specialist and dentist in Yellowknife will support your daily hygiene habits by carefully inspecting the condition of your gums and implants at every check up. If you ever experience any of the symptoms of peri-implant diseases between check ups, contact a dentist near you immediately so they can take quick action to halt any infection and save your implant. 

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