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Post-Operative Instructions:
Irrigation

To heal the quickest way possible, you need to take proper care of the surgical sites.

Lower Sockets

Irrigate the lower sockets at least 1x/day for 6 weeks. This can be done more often than 1x/day, but not less. The reason to irrigate is that no matter how well you brush and rinse your teeth, gravity will trap small particles of food into the lower sockets. These sockets WILL fill in with bone over the next 6–8 weeks. If food is trapped in the socket, healing is altered, and your body will form an abscess around this food. This abscess would need to be drained and possibly cleaned out surgically. Flushing out the lower sockets and cleaning them will help prevent an infection and also prevent any bad taste in the mouth or bad breath.

Upper Sockets

The upper sockets DO NOT need to be irrigated. As long as you brush and rinse normally, gravity will pull food down and into the mouth and these sites will heal on their own, usually with no other care needed.

The IRRIGATION MIXTURE to use is as follows:

  • Fill an 8 oz glass with tap water
  • Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the glass
  • Add 2–3 capfuls of hydrogen peroxide (found at any pharmacy)

Suck up the above mixture in the syringe we provided to you. Guide the tip of the syringe INTO the LOWER sockets and irrigate with the mixture. At each session, irrigate each LOWER socket until there is clear drainage (i.e., no food particles coming out that you see when you spit into the sink). You may notice some slight bleeding the first few times you irrigate — this is normal, and if it doesn't stop on its own in 30 minutes, bite on gauze or a tea bag for 1 hour.

Implant Instructions

  • Take medications as directed.
  • Absolutely NO Electronic/Sonicare® toothbrush use for 4 months. (The vibration from this can cause the implant to fail.)
  • Absolutely NO Waterpik®use for 4 months.
  • No biting or chewing over implant site until crown is placed.