How Long Does it Take to Recover From a Tooth Implant

With the many advancements in dentistry over the years, one of the biggest advancements is the tooth implant. A tooth implant replaces a missing tooth. This can be due to having your tooth knocked out or removed due to a broken tooth or even major destruction due to deterioration that is unable to be fixed by any other action a dentist can take.

The Dental Implant Process

The tooth implant consists of medical-grade titanium that is also in other implant replacements such as hips or knees. The implant will match the X-rays of each patient and is a multi-step procedure. Once the dentist and patient determine a tooth implant is a proper treatment, there will be X-rays to help craft the implant.

Then a qualified oral surgeon drill will clean the area out of any remaining bits of the tooth and drill into the jawbone directly where the tooth implant will be. There is the possibility that with a tooth implant in, the patient will need bone grafts at that time.

Recovery

Recovery from a tooth implant varies from person to person. Though from one aspect, many people are able to resume their normal schedules the next day, with the exception of eating. Soft-food diets will be necessary for days if not weeks after the procedure. It is important to note however that this is just recovering from having the actual procedure done to insert the implant.

Some people will need to have a cut in their gum to reveal the jaw bone for the drilling to take place. If that is the case, there will be sutures put in. The sutures should be able to be removed in 10 – 14 days in most cases, and will not add any additional pain or time to recovery.

The Final Steps

You will not leave this procedure with the actual crown in place. The tooth implant itself will be inserted into the hole drilled into the bone, and will then be left to fuse with the jaw bone via the process known as osseointegration. Osseointegration typically takes four to six months to complete.

Again, since each patient has different circumstances, it is hard to determine a consistent recovery period for people. Once the dentist is comfortable with the degree of osseointegration the tooth implant has achieved, they will attach an abutment into the tooth implant that will be used to attach the tooth implant to the permanent crown. As soon as that occurs, the tooth implant procedure is completed.

The recovery period for a tooth implant will rarely be under four months, and can also extend past six months. It will extend past six months in cases where the deterioration of the tooth has extended into the jawbone. When that is the case, often times the tooth implant will take additional steps and therefore additional times to heal. Often in those cases, once the hole is drilled for the tooth implant, the area will need to be cleaned out and left open to heal before the tooth implant can be inserted.

As you can see, there are so many factors involved in the tooth implant process that there is no way to determine a set recovery time. The actual time to recover from the procedure should last for no more than seven to ten days, with little to no pain associated with it. Soft food diets are essential and may have to last longer than that by a few days. The time to fuse the tooth implant to the jaw bone should take no longer then four to six months in a normal person.

So…

Request a dental implant aftercare information appointment in our San Jose dentist office here: https://www.ddsbaik.com.