How to Care For Your Dental Implants

While dental implants are not affected by tooth decay, considering the kind of material typically used by dentists, it does not mean that you can be lax when it comes to keeping it clean. You may not know it but improper dental care could lead to gum infection and a whole slew of other dental and oral problems such as halitosis.

The Right Tools

If you only have dental implants, you need to make sure that you use an end-tufted toothbrush. This kind of toothbrush can get to hard-to-reach spaces including those around your gum line, along the lingual surfaces near the implant post. An interdental toothbrush can also help clean the sides of the tooth as well as the crown and the abutment posts. All you have to do is press it gently against the side of the tooth and then have it pass back and forth.

Flossing is also highly recommended for those with dental implants. This can be used if the interdental toothbrush were unable to reach all food particles that have become stuck around the gum line. The kind of stroke that you would use would depend on whether you have a bridge or a single-tooth dental implant. In the case of the former, sideways stroke between the gum line and the bridge should be enough. On the other hand, single-tooth implant would require passing the floss between the implant and the neighboring teeth, as well as between the abutment post and the gum line.