How long do dental implants take to heal?

A dental implant involves removing your old tooth (if necessary), then inserting a titanium post into your jawbone directly. Once the post is safe and relaxed in your face, to protect it and give you the feeling of having a natural tooth, a crown or overdenture is placed on top of it.

Usually, the operation is done under local anesthesia, general anesthesia or sedation, depending on the choice of the patient. At Apollo Dental, our team will work with you to determine the best option for you and provide you with instructions on how to prepare for your implant surgery.

Whenever you choose to replace a missing or irreparably damaged tooth with a dental implant, our team will ensure that you’re taken care at every step of the way. The dental implants can last a lifetime, so the brief outpatient operation is worth your time.

The implant procedure occurs in several phases. It may require more than one phase of healing. The healing time is therefore variable, depending on how many teeth are removed, the well being of the person, etc.

The process of recovery begins once the dental implant post is inserted in your mouth.

The body needs enough new bone to sustain the implant in its entirety. This process is called Osseo integration — think of it as a plant that grows roots to support itself as it grows. Even though it is mechanical, the implant will become part of your mouth over time.

Dental implant surgery recovery times may differ depending on the individual case, the number of teeth affected, the individual patient, and how you handle the recovery process.

There is little or no post-operative pain or swelling in the case of clear dental implant placement, with little or no grafting (e.g. removing a single missing back tooth or an immediate implant to replace a failing tooth).

With little disruption, patients will be able to continue their lives as normal. All that is required may be a soft diet for a few days and careful brushing of the affected area. Nonetheless, this is well handled by treatment and the dentist can recommend post-operative care. It takes barely 7-10 days for a patient to return to their day-to-day normal diet routine.

A patient’s recovery is hugely impacted by the lifestyle he or she pursues. For example; if you're a smoker, it's best to limit or avoid smoking for a week or so after any dental implant surgery.

Dental implant recovery time may be delayed or reduced due to smoking, poor diet, excessive alcohol use and lack of dental care such as regular brushing. Maintaining oral hygiene and home care is important for healing and helps ensure that there is no plaque or infection around the gums.

The recovery time following dental implant surgery tends to vary but usually depends on the number of teeth being inserted, whether or not a bone graft is required and how well the patient handles their recovery. Thankfully, over the past few years, the science and technology behind dental implants has improved dramatically, improving post-surgery pain and comfort for patients following surgery.

The patient needing the least recovery time would be one with a normal, single dental implant without bone grafting. For a person undergoing a simple procedure like a single dental implant, there is little or no pain. Mild swelling and soreness can occur, but with counter-pain relievers, it is usually manageable.

In any case, keeping your mouth clean after surgery is crucial. It can be achieved by gently rinsing your mouth with salt water starting the day after surgery. After the operation, you can start brushing your teeth the night, but be sure to keep it light around the surgery area so as not to disturb the healing in that area.

It is also important to remember that there should be no cigarettes or sucking through a straw in the week following your surgery, as this can severely hinder the healing process. Until returning to your normal diet, it is important to stick to a diet consisting primarily of soft foods for the first 7-10 days after your surgery.

At Apollo Dental, we keep the process simple and it leads to faster recovery as well as turnout time. With dental implants like dental crowns, teeth in day implant, all-on-four implant, single-tooth implant, implant overdenture, full mouth implant and hybrid implant dentures, rest assured of a flawless and painless procedure with Apollo Dental. A team of internationally acclaimed dental experts take care of everything in detail so that you never get to feel the complexity of the process of dental implants. With Apollo Dental near you, you can always take an essential step to get rid of any dental problems you have.