Did you know that 120 million people in America are missing at least one tooth? Tooth loss can have all sorts of negative effects on your dental health and self-esteem. Fortunately, you can fix the problem by getting a dental implant.
No matter what types of dental implants you get, they are realistic and durable and can greatly improve your quality of life. But how should you go about cleaning dental implants? Fortunately, it isn’t as difficult as you might think, and it’s not all that different from cleaning your real teeth.
Keep reading and learn more about how to follow an implant cleaning routine.
Brush and Floss Your Dental Implants
Many people think that because dental implants are false teeth, they are practically invincible, but this is not true. While dental implants can’t suffer from traditional dental problems like cavities or tooth decay, they can still degrade over time if you don’t take care of them. They can also become stained and discolored if you’re not careful.
In some cases, they might even chip or crack due to lack of care. To start taking care of your dental implants, you’ll want to make sure that you brush your teeth every day at least twice. Ideally, you should brush your teeth every time after you eat.
That way, particles of food won’t have the chance to stick to your dental implants or get lodged between your teeth and cause dental issues. This is especially true if you often consume substances with strong pigments.
For example, if you often have coffee in the morning but don’t brush your teeth after drinking it, you’ll soon find that the coffee will stain your new dental implants along with the rest of your teeth.
The Details
Dental implants are expensive and the last thing you want is for their appearance to suffer soon after you get them. Simply brushing your teeth can solve the problem. The bristles of your toothbrush will dislodge these pigments from the surface of your dental implants so that they don’t have a chance to cause stains in the first place.
Besides brushing your implants, you will also want to remember to floss. Flossing gets all the surfaces of your implants that a toothbrush alone can’t reach. This is important because food often gets stuck between your teeth and you might not even know it. When food entraps itself against your dental implant, that food (and the oral bacteria that follows it) will slowly eat away at your implant.
Again, this can cause staining but it can also make your dental implant a lot weaker. Dental implants are meant to last 20 years or more, but if you don’t take care of them in this way, they might last you only a fraction of that time.
Brushing and cleaning implants with floss will keep your implants in great shape, but there are also a few other things that you can do to clean your implants.
Remove Tartar and Get Professional Dental Cleanings
You should have some implant cleaning tools on hand for when plaque or tartar starts to develop on and around your implants. Plaque is a soft, sticky substance that bacteria in your mouth produce when they consume leftover food particles in your mouth. Plaque is a relatively harmless substance and you can get rid of it by brushing your teeth.
However, if you go a long time without brushing your teeth, this plaque can eventually turn into tartar. Tartar, also known as calculus, is a very hard substance that is usually white or yellow in color. It tends to build up at the base of teeth (including implants) against the top of the gum line.
Because tartar is so hard, it is hard to remove on your own. However, there are some special tools you can use that allow you to pick away at this hard substance until it finally comes loose. There are also some ultrasonic devices that you can use to destroy the tartar, but they are best not used on dental implants.
It is important to remove tartar because it is irritating to the gums. In particular, tartar is a big culprit when it comes to the development of gum disease. For that reason, you will want to get rid of any tartar before it gets too serious.
What You Need to Know
If you have trouble removing your own tartar, make a dental implant appointment to have your implants and the rest of your teeth cleaned by a professional. Professional teeth cleaning is important since a dentist can clean your teeth much more efficiently than any ordinary toothbrush.
Your dentist has special tools on hand that will allow him to remove tartar, plaque, and other dental issues without any problem. This is not to mention that your dentist can overview the state of your dental implants and teeth to make sure that they’re in good shape.
If you want, you can ask your dentist questions about how to take better care of your dental implants. A good dentist will always give you plenty of advice for improving your smile and oral health.
All About Cleaning Dental Implants
Cleaning dental implants is an important responsibility that you will need to tackle once you get implants. If you don’t clean them on a regular basis (about twice a day) they could end up degrading in quality and they might not last you as long as you hoped. All you need to do is brush your teeth, floss, and occasionally get professional dental cleanings from your dentist.
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