Why Does Your Face Swell After Getting Dental Implants?
Dental implants are excellent for replacing missing teeth when you lose them to injuries, dental infections, or extraction due to various reasons. Earlier, when dental implants weren’t available, dentists replaced missing teeth with dentures or bridges. However, with present-day technology, dentists can replace your natural teeth with implants developed from surgical-grade titanium to last for a lifetime.
Dental implants in Southampton, PA, require surgery to embed the titanium posts deep into your jawbone, making it essential to know what to expect after the implants are placed in your mouth. Many patients question whether swelling is expected after the dental implant procedure. Dentists aim to address the question and provide all information about the swelling after getting implants and when you must contact the implantologist for help.
Is Swelling Expected After Getting Dental Implants?
Swelling results from fluids building up in the tissues. Therefore some swelling after the dental implant surgical process is expected because it is your body’s response to an injury or trauma. You might also experience bruising besides the swelling because it is another response to injections and incisions.
As a result of injections, incisions, and placement of the dental implant, you can expect swelling and bruising around your jaws, mouth, cheeks, and the sides of your mouth. The severity of the swelling depends on how many implants you need and how your body reacts to the process. For example, some people might experience increased inflammation and discoloration than others.
Unfortunately, the after-effects of the surgery usually worsen before getting better, peaking in 48 to 72 hours before gradually subsiding until it diminishes in several days.
Reducing Swelling after the Dental Implant Procedure
The dentist in Southampton, PA, recommends after-care instructions following the dental implant procedure. The advice helps reduce the swelling faster after the surgery.
Dentists recommend you reduce activity to alleviate the swelling after dental implants. Reducing activity doesn’t mean you have to be bedridden, but you must avoid strenuous exercise and refrain from visiting the gym, bending forward, or trying to lift heavy objects. In addition, you must keep your head elevated using extra pillows to help alleviate the swelling.
You can use ice packs intermittently, keeping them 15 minutes on and off your cheeks, and repeat the process required until 72 hours. After that, you can use heat because it feels more soothing on your face.
Dentists suggest anti-inflammatory medications besides painkillers following the dental implant process to help ease pain and swelling. However, you must ensure you take the medicines as suggested without skipping doses because aggravated pain and swelling cause unnecessary problems.
When to Contact the Dentist for Advice?
Replacing natural teeth with dental implants entails inserting alien appliances in your jawbone to function as your artificial tooth root. You must watch for changes during your recovery and evaluate your discomfort and swelling. Beyond 72 hours, when the swelling starts subsiding, it shouldn’t increase. Unfortunately, if it does become excessive or causes excruciating pain, you must contact the provider of the tooth implants immediately.
Excessive swelling and excruciating pain beyond 72 hours might indicate signs of infection, which might need antibiotics to control by the provider. Therefore, you must follow your dentist’s instructions stringently, note any changes in the pain or swelling, and contact the Southampton provider for advice immediately when you notice it.
Swelling in the mouth or any part of your body is a natural reaction resulting from injuries, trauma, or surgical procedures. You experience swelling even after losing a tooth or having one extracted. When you decide to replace a missing tooth or teeth with dental implants, you undergo a surgical procedure requiring incisions in your gums before drilling your jawbone to insert the implant deep into it.
The dental implant surgical process seems painful and might cause you to believe replacing missing teeth with implants is challenging. However, you don’t experience discomfort before or during the implant placement. The swelling starts and becomes visible only after you return home following implant placement, and the anesthesia starts wearing off. It is a minor inconvenience you must endure when trying to restore your mouth functionality and aesthetics, besides preventing the consequences of tooth loss.
Swelling after implant placement surgery is normal and subsides within two or three days. It represents a complication only if it exceeds 72 hours and needs help from the provider to manage it comfortably. However, the end result from the procedure results in restoration of the abilities you lost with the missing teeth, which you should look forward to by enduring the minor discomfort.
If you consider dental implants to replace your missing teeth not hesitate to contact Sleek Smile Studio providing; them and looking forward to assisting you in every way to ensure you have a relaxing time after dental implant placement surgery.