When you get dental implants, your body is going to have to go through a healing period. The choices that you make will impact how quickly that healing process goes. You can directly impact how long it takes your body to heal with your choices.

#1: Eat Soft Foods

After dental implant surgery, your mouth is going to be sensitive. You don't want to eat any foods that require hard chewing or that could cut or damage your gums. For the first few days, and potentially for the first few weeks, stick to eating soft foods.

Avoid foods that are hard and sticky, as they will be harder to chew and harder on your mouth. Planning ahead and purchasing soft and nutritious foods that you can eat during your recovery period will help your body more effectively recover.

#2: Avoid Ice

You can have ice water, but you shouldn't eat ice. Eating ice is hard on your teeth, and if you have a new implant in place that is trying to heal, eating ice can irritate and potentially damage it. Resist the temptation to eat ice, and if this is a habit of yours, try to work on breaking it before you have implant surgery.

#3: Avoid Alcohol

Next, you are going to want to avoid alcohol. Alcohol can make your mouth dry, which will make it harder for your mouth to heal properly. Alcohol can irritate the area where the surgery took place inside of your mouth. Additionally, alcohol can also interact with your medication—plan on taking a break from alcohol when you have dental implant surgery.

#4: Take Your Medication

Your dentist is going to give you medication. Some of the medicines will be to help reduce the swelling and help you deal with the pain. Don't avoid this medication because you can mentally handle the pain; this medication will help your body better handle the pain and heal more efficiently.

You will also be given antibiotics. The purpose of the antibiotics is to fight and kill off any potential infection. You need to make sure you take the full course of antibiotics, no matter how you feel, so that the treatment will be effective. If you stop taking the antibiotics and get an infection, the antibiotics' effectiveness will decrease, putting you in a risky position.

After dental implant surgery, you are going to need to take it easy for a while. Eat soft foods and avoid eating hard foods, such as ice. Take a break from consuming any alcohol, and be sure to take your full course of medications.

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