You know that brushing your teeth at least twice a day, morning and night, and flossing once per day are crucial steps in your oral hygiene regimen. You may also know that you should supplement this at-home care by visiting your dentist for teeth cleanings to maximize oral hygiene.
But you can also use more hygienic products in your smile, like mouthwash, to keep your smile as clean and healthy as possible. However, you may wonder if these products are safe to use with fixtures in your smile like dental implants.
Mouthwash can enhance your oral cleanliness, even after implant dentistry. But you will need to use this product carefully and properly. Consult with your dentist first to determine how your unique smile will respond to this hygienic tool. Read on to learn more about using mouthwash after tooth replacement with dental implants.
How Does Mouthwash Improve Oral Health?
Many dentists recommend introducing mouthwash to your oral hygiene routine. Rinsing with this product once a day, especially after a meal, will boost oral cleanliness. It washes away lingering food particles to better reduce bacterial spread that might otherwise cause tooth decay or gum disease.
A dental implant will resist decay and other dental issues. But if these problems affect the area around the fixture, you could suffer damage to the implant. So take advantage of this beneficial oral hygiene product. But make sure it does not interfere with your dentist’s aftercare guidelines following the implant procedure.
Should I Use Mouthwash with Dental Implants?
You will not be able to use mouthwash immediately following receiving dental implants. In fact, after oral surgery, you will not be able to perform a spitting action at all. The movement within the mouth could disturb a healing blood clot at the surgical sites and give you dry socket, an extremely painful complication that will require intervention from your dentist to fix.
However, after about a month of recovery, you can begin to use mouthwash and enjoy the oral health benefits this product can offer. You will need to choose the right type of mouthwash though in order to maximize these advantages and avoid harming your implants.
Look for an antibacterial mouthwash that will work to balance oral bacteria. This will lower your risk of oral infections and therefore protect your implants along with the rest of your smile.
You should also avoid brands of mouthwash that contain alcohol or teeth-whitening ingredients. These harsh materials will dry out your mouth. This allows oral bacteria to spread with greater ease through your mouth, counteracting the benefits of using mouthwash in the first place.
Before introducing mouthwash to your routine, talk to your dentist, especially if you recently received new dental implants. Your dentist can ensure this product will suit your specific oral health goals in relation to your dental work. They can also provide more preventative dental advice when you give them a call.