After Healing Abutment Placement

The second stage procedure has been done to connect abutment posts to the top of your implants. It is important that you treat these posts as natural teeth in terms of cleaning and care. If you wear a denture over the area, we will modify this appliance so it can be worn sparingly until your new teeth can be made. The following instructions will help you to look after your new abutment over the next few weeks.

DIET

You should continue with soft diet as much as possible. You may also wish to avoid spicy foods for several days. Please ensure you get adequate nutrition to aid healing. The following foods will provide nutrition without requiring much chewing: soups and broths, egg, ground meats, baby foods, custards and milk puddings, milk shakes, malted milk, or simply put your normal food through a blender.

DISCOMFORT

You may feel some mild discomfort after the anaesthesia wears off. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or Ibuprofen (Advil) will generally be enough to control this.

SUTURES

Your sutures may be either self-dissolving or could require removal. Your nurse will advise you.

HYGIENE

Beginning tomorrow, rinse mouth every 4-6 hours with warm, slightly salty water (1/2 teaspoon in a tall glass of water) for the following week. Begin brushing your teeth the day after surgery, avoiding any areas with stitches. Continue rinsing with Oro-X twice a day until the bottle is empty.

WHAT IS NEXT

Your healing will be checked to determine when the new teeth can be made. In some cases, we will need to change the abutments before this is done. This is a procedure which generally does not require any further surgery.

FOLLOW-UP APPOINTMENT

Your recovery will be followed up by either a phone call from one of our nurses or you will be scheduled an appointment to come back to see your surgeon. Your nurse will inform you before you leave the office.