5 Bad Habits You Need to Quit Before You Get Dental Implants

Just one new dental implant can lead to a range of positive changes in your mouth. But before that can happen, you need to do your best to ensure your dental implant heals without disturbance. A common time for dental implants to fail is during the healing process. Fortunately, the success rate of dental implants is very high.

To ensure your implant heals well, consider quitting bad habits that might hinder your dental implant's ability to fuse with your jawbone.

1. Smoking

Smoking cigarettes interferes with the body's ability to heal after an injury. In regards to your mouth, this includes both gum tissue and bone tissue, the healing of which is crucial to the success of a dental implant.

Begin reducing the frequency of your smoking habit a few weeks or months before your surgery. This will make it easier for you to stop completely before your surgery. And your body will have time to heal from the smoking damage before your oral surgery.

2. Drinking

Alcohol is very similar to smoking in terms of how it affects your body's ability to heal and fight off infection. With a reduced ability to fight off infection and heal from wounds, there is a higher risk that a dental implant will fail. Try to cut down on drinking before dental implant surgery.

3. Chewing Ice

Many people chew ice once they have finished drinking a cold drink. But chewing ice is bad for your teeth in general and can cause mini-cracks to form in your teeth. And since a dental implant needs several months to fuse with your jawbone, putting massive pressure on one by chewing ice could lead to implant failure.

4. Using Teeth Like Tools

If you open packets with your teeth, bite your nails or chew on pens as you work, then stop this habit before your dental implant surgery. Otherwise, you could inadvertently damage your dental implant when you unconsciously start chewing on an object as your implant heals. You need to quit this habit weeks ahead of your surgery.  

5. Skipping evening oral hygiene

The worst time to skip oral hygiene is in the evening before you go to bed. Since your mouth will be inactive for many hours, oral bacteria can multiply in your mouth. This increases the risk of gum disease and tooth decay. Oral bacteria are also bad for healing dental implants because they can cause infections that lead to periimplantitis, a condition that causes implant failure.

Always brush and floss your teeth before bedtime, especially after implant surgery.  

To learn more about dental implants and what you can do to ensure they heal properly, contact a dentist today. 


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