Everything You Must Know About Dental Implants & Smoking
Every year, dental implants gain in popularity. Unlike dentures, dental implants are placed directly into the jawbone. This means that true dental implants can last a lifetime with the proper care. Even mini-dental implants are now more preferred than dentures.
Dentures, at least for now, does win the battle over dental implants in one respect. Smokers are more likely to get dentures than they are to get dental implants. For smokers, dental implants are a scary proposition. They’ve been told, repeatedly, that they are high-risk candidates for dental implants.
Although there is some truth to that, most of the information about smoking and dental implants is skewed towards the negative and doesn’t exactly present facts. Keep reading for everything you must know about smokers, smoking, and dental implants.
Dental Implants & Smoking: Does Smoking Affect Dental Implants
The American Dental Association calls dental implants one of the most significant advances in dentistry in the past 40 years. Dental crowns put onto dental implant titanium or ceramic posts won’t decay the way regular teeth might. That alone makes dental implants an important dental tech advancement.
Smoking will affect dental implants, but the truth is that it doesn’t affect implants the way we might think. Smoking affects blood flow and in that respect, it can absolutely be detrimental to a dental implant procedure.
Blood vessels deliver oxygen and nutrients to our bodies’ organs. Each one of our blood vessels is coated with a thin layer of cells that ensures excellent blood flow. Carbon monoxide from smoking destroys the thin layer of cells. Smoking inhibits blood flow and blood flow is exceptionally important.
After dental implant surgery, it’s important that blood flows correctly. Good blood flow is necessary to aid the healing process after getting dental implants. This is the most important aspect of smoking and dental implant procedures. Ensuring good blood flow after the procedure is paramount to success.
Smoking Before Tooth Implant Surgery
Patients shouldn’t smoke before a dental implant surgery. This makes sense for many reasons. But the amount of time that smokers shouldn’t smoke before their implant surgery is up for debate.
Some believe that smokers shouldn’t smoke at least a day or even two days before surgery. Others believe that smokers can puff up until 5 minutes before their dental implant surgery. Luckily, if they get surgery performed through a dental clinic and dentist in Costa Rica, that dentist will explain all the important details during the pre-procedure appointment. That way, smokers will have all the facts they need before their dental implant procedure.
During the pre-op appointment, your dental surgeon might suggest a bone graft procedure. A dental bone graft can help ensure your jaw bone is strong enough for implants. Smoking not only affects blood flow, but it can also affect the bones in your body, including those in your jaw.
For more information on smoking and bone loss, see WebMD.
Dental Implants: Smoking After Implants
It’s much more important for smokers to understand what’s required after dental implant surgery than it is for them to know what to do before getting implants. It goes back to blood flow and how important blood is to providing nutrients and oxygen to healing areas in our bodies.
Because what happens after surgery is so important, we must consider all smoking factors. Read more for the ins and outs of smoking after dental surgery.
Can You Smoke After Oral Surgery?
The answer is “yes” and “no”. You cannot smoke during surgery recovery. However, there’s nothing specific about smoking and dental surgery than there is about smoking and any type of surgery, other than we put cigarettes into our mouths.
If you had to get a surgery on your leg or arm, or back, you couldn’t smoke during the healing process, either. Smoking after surgery won’t always destroy the healing process. It will lengthen it. When it does destroy the healing process, if your dental implant procedure is a failure, you must get a second procedure to take out the dental implants. You then must heal before a third procedure to re-implant your posts.
You can’t smoke during the healing process. However, there might be an alternative to actually smoking.
Nicotine Patches and Dental Implants
Nicotine is bad for us. We all know this. Nicotine affects us differently than carbon monoxide from smoking, though. Carbon monoxide destroys the thin layer on our cells that ensures excellent blood flow. That can adversely affect the healing process after we get dental implants.
Nicotine affects our bodies differently. Nicotine primarily affects our brains. It heads to our brains and in small doses creates anxiety. What’s interesting is that in large doses it puts us into a relaxed state. That explains how some of us become chain smokers.
In any case, a nicotine patch might be an alternative for smokers after dental implant surgery. Ask your dental implant surgeon and, or, dentist if you should use a patch after smoking. The answer might be “yes”. Nicotine patches will help subdue your smoking cravings.
Can You Smoke with Dental Implants?
After you heal, you should be able to smoke. However, it’s incredibly important to understand how smoking affects bone density. Your implants are placed directly into your jawbone. This can’t be stressed enough. Your jawbone must remain healthy.
Also, consider sticking with nicotine patches if they worked for you during the healing process. It’s always better to quit smoking if you’ve discovered a way how. You could use your dental implant procedure to help you quit!
Bottom Line with Smoking and Dental Implants? Ask!
Remember that your dental implant surgeon and dentist are there to help you. Make sure to ask relevant questions. If questions aren’t answered in a timely manner, push for answers. This is your dental implant procedure. You have every right to expect to be treated with the same courtesy that dental clinics treat non-smokers.
One of the reasons you should consider getting dental implants in Costa Rica is due to Costa Rican dental clinics’ high-level of customer service. If you’re a smoker, you most definitely want all of your questions answered. Costa Rican dentists put an emphasis on customer service.
Smokers Can Get Their Dental Implants in Costa Rica
Let Care Overseas Help!
Luckily, there’s a solution. Costa Rican dental clinics and dentists are just as comfortable installing dental implants for smokers as they are for anyone else. Smokers in need of dental implants can fly to Costa Rica and get implants for much less than what it could cost them in the United States. In fact, many U.S. citizens in need of implants can not only pay for the cost of their flight and hotel stay, but also their procedure. While in Costa Rica, they can partake in various tourist activities. Not only will they get the top-notch required for dental implant surgery, but they will also see one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Smokers and their families should head to Care Overseas now and get a quote from the Flikier Dental Institute or DDS Dental. They can also call us at 866-778-2766 and we will walk them through the process. Dental care shouldn’t be stressful. Let Care Overseas help!