It turns out, it’s not too bad!
Dental implant surgery involves inserting a titanium implant into your gum line and then into your bone which, I gotta say, sounds like it would be painful. Let’s take a closer look at exactly what you can expect on your surgery day.
Your surgeon’s homework
Before your surgery, you will have already had an appointment to get several oral scans done.
These super detailed scans allow your surgeon and their team to digitally plan and customize your entire surgery without you having to be physically in the office. Tools made specifically for you are created, allowing your surgeon to have pinpoint accuracy and make incisions with minimal discomfort.
If you’re told you’ll need a bone graft
It just means that before your implants can be placed, you’ll need an extra procedure to rebuild part(s) of your jaw bone so that it can fully support your implant.
If it sounds scary, it’s not. Find out everything you need to know about bone graft procedures here.
The procedure
When you arrive on surgery day, the first thing you’ll get is anesthesia which will make your implant site completely numb, so you can’t feel ANYTHING.
Now it’s time to place the implant.
Our surgeons’ meticulous technique allows them to be minimally invasive, so incisions are tiny.
Now, your jaw bone where your implant screws are placed has very few nerve endings and our surgeons know exactly where they are. Even during your healing period, it’s very rare for any pain at all to come from your actual bone.
Throughout the surgery in general, I wouldn’t bank on feeling like you’re at the spa, but I also wouldn’t expect anything outside of some mild discomfort.
At this point, you’ll either walk out of the office with temporary custom abutments (i.e. beautiful, but temporary teeth) and come back for your final restoration a few months later OR you’ll walk out with your final restoration the very same day.
If you walk out with custom abutments
It simply means that the crowns you have now are temporary ones. Your implants sometimes need time to heal and fuse with your bone before the permanent ones can be placed.
Your next surgery will involve uncovering the implants. Taking your temporary crowns off and putting your permanent ones on.
This surgery usually happens 5-7 months later and is even less involved than the first one and, again, happens entirely under anesthesia.
What about post surgery?
Turns out, it’s not too bad either!
Leukocyte-Platelet Rich Fibrin (L-PRF) is used at your implant site, which is essentially a “bandaid” created from your own blood. It adds a concentration of cells and healing powers to speed up the healing process.
Every patient is different, but many report taking a few Ibuprofen and feeling better within days, sometimes the next day!
A huge factor that will affect your level of pain is the surgeon you choose.
Always make sure you have a surgeon and a team with experience, who will customize and painstakingly plan your procedure, using the best technology and care available.
If that’s us, we’ll be happy to have you. Just click on “Find A Doctor” to locate one of our highly trained, Your New Teeth Now dental implant specialists.
We can’t wait to get you smiling again!
Article originally published at yournewteethnow.com.