When you’ve had teeth missing and you’ve had dental implants put in as artificial teeth it can be confusing how to look after them. Dental implants are very like natural teeth in the way they look and feel, and are about as close to natural teeth as anything else is going to get. Dental implants also ensure that there is structural integrity to your mouth preventing other teeth moving around.

What is  an implant?

Essentially a dental implant is an artificial tooth on top of the metal post. The metal pole goes into the gum and jaw to create a solid tooth base, much like the root.

Dental implants tend to be a successful procedure, but there are certain things you can do a long way to help keep them in good condition.

Follow good oral hygiene practices

With dental implants, just as with normal teeth, you should floss daily and brush twice per day. It’s a good idea to choose an interdental brush, which can get between the teeth and can help to freshen up and clean the areas are difficult to reach in between your teeth and your implants. Most advice for normal teeth is applicable to dental implants when it comes to oral hygiene.

Stop smoking

Smoking can have the effect of weakening the bones of your jawlineand therefore making your implants less strong. Implants can fail if the jawline hasn’t healed properly around the implant post, or if the jawline weakens and smoking can contribute to this.

See your dentist regularly

You want to visit a dentist at least every six months in order to make sure that your implants are in good condition and that everything is going along nicely. Your dentist will examine and clean your teeth and implants, and assess whether anything else needs to be done in order to maintain the health of your teeth and your implants.

Avoid foods that are particularly hard

You need to be a little bit careful when you have dental implants that you don’t put them under too much stress. Hard sweets, ice, bones and other hard foods can cause your teeth to break, just as they could brittle natural teeth.

You just need to think, and be aware about your implants when you are choosing what to eat and be aware that you can cause damage if you are putting too much pressure through your teeth, or chewing at the wrong angle.

Dental implants are an excellent way to replace teeth. It is possible to get multiple dental implants are even a full top to bottom implants as an alternative to dentures. Dental implants should last a decade or more if you take care of them, but treat them with respect and understand that they may break or function less optimally if you do not look after them or put them under too much pressure.