If you are a smoker, you will no doubt know how difficult it can be to abstain from smoking even for a little while. However, if you have recently had dental implant surgery, although you may be tempted to have a single cigarette, it is important that you do not smoke at all during the recovery period. Below is a guide to the 5 ways that smoking can impact the success of your dental implant surgery.
Smoking Can Increase the Risk of Infection
Smoking reduces the amount of saliva in your mouth, which can lead to it becoming dry. A dry mouth creates the perfect conditions for bacteria to grow, increasing the risk that the implant site will become infected. As well as being painful, an infection could cause the dental implant to fail.
Smoking Can Damage Your Gums
As smoke enters your mouth, it can immediately irritate delicate tissues such as your gums. The irritation caused by the smoke causes the top layer of cells in your gum to thicken and harden. This can prevent proper healing of the implant site and can lead to an increased risk of implant failure.
Smoking Can Cause Bone Loss
While everyone experiences some degree of bone loss as they age, the rate of bone loss is increased in smokers. Bone loss can prevent the dental implant from forming a strong bond with your jaw and increase the chance of implant failure.
Smoking Reduces Blood Flow
The nicotine contained within smoke causes the blood vessels in your gums to contract, which reduces the amount of blood which can flow to the site of the dental implant. Reduced blood flow will prolong the amount of time it takes for the implant site to heal.
Smokers Are More Likely to Suffer Implant Failure
Smoking increases both the long-term and short-term chance that a dental implant will fail. Studies have shown that while dental implants are a successful form of treatment for 92% of patients, smokers suffer from twice as many dental implant failures.
While stopping smoking, even for a short while can be a challenge, with the right help and support, it is possible. To give your dental implants the best chance of success, it is important you do not smoke during your recovery period. You could use nicotine patches as a substitute until your mouth has fully healed. If you have any concerns about dental implant surgery or the recovery process, contact your dentist today.
Share23 August 2016
When I had my first child, I was a nervous wreck. Every book I read gave different advice, and I just wanted to be right! By the time I had my third child, some of the stress had abated. I now realised, there were tons of different perspectives on everything related to raising children including dentistry. To help parents, I have created this blog dedicated to unraveling dental myths about children. I am including posts that weigh both sides of issues such as thumb sucking, dental caries, breastfeeding, flossing and any other topic I can think of. I hope you find the information you need to unravel dental myths, but most importantly, I hope you find some peace of mind. With kids and dentistry, there can be more than one right answer, and I want you to be able to relax and go with the answer that's right for you.
