An all-on-4 dental implant is a wonderful option for replacing all your missing teeth. A patient normally undertakes to get all-on-4 dental implants after careful considerations to replace their missing teeth. Few teeth that could have anyways not been savaged would have been extracted by the dentist before going for the option. So after all these steps and getting the all-on-4 dental implant it is imperative to maintain it properly.
Before getting into the tips to maintain, it is better to know why oral hygiene is mandatory when it comes to maintaining all-on-4 dental implants. This implant type of dental implant has two components, the implants that are fixed permanently and fused to the jaw bone, and the teeth that are affixed on to the implant. In certain types, the teeth are screwed to the implant and can be removed only by your dentists and in certain types, the dentures are removable.
Maintaining Dental Implants
Whether the teeth are screwed to the implant or removable, the implants that have fused with the jawbones are common to both and they need to be properly maintained by following flawless oral hygiene. Here are a few tips
- Brush around your implant posts using an interdental brush twice a day
- Rinse your mouth thoroughly.
Maintaining the All-on-4 Implant if the Teeth is screwed to the Implant
- Brush and floss your mouth thoroughly.
- Use un-waxed floss. The ideal option is to use water floss as they are more effective.
- Rinse your mouth thoroughly after washing them.
General Points to Remember on Maintaining All-on-4 Implants
- Visit your dentist regularly. If you are wearing a denture that is screwed to the implant, it is imperative that you check the same regularly with the dentist. Sometimes it may require tightening or sometimes due to age if space has shrunk, your dentist has to inform you and prescribe other courses of action.
- Also, a general visit to the dentist is helpful in identifying if there is an infection that has developed surrounding the dental implant post. This infection can occur only if dental hygiene is not maintained properly by the patient. Also, the infection may lead to a condition called peri-implantitis if it is left unchecked. Hence the emphasis on regular dental visits.
- Chewing tobacco and smoking increases the risk of infection and peri-implantitis. So quitting or having control over tobacco is recommended if you have got all-on-4 dental implants.