What Are the Side Effects of Dental Implant Surgery?

The typical side effects of dental implant surgery include pain, swelling, and bruising lasting about a week.

Are you considering getting dental implants to replace one or more of your missing teeth? You’re making a wise choice! Dental implants are the single most effective solution for missing teeth, because only dental implants replace the entire structure of the tooth, both above and below the gum line. This is important because without stimulation, the bone in the area of the missing tooth root will lose density. Titanium dental implants will bond with the bone to stop this process.

You’ll be encouraged to know that dental implants have an extremely high success rate—93 to 98 percent depending which research you follow. However, because getting dental implants does require surgery, you will experience some side effects as your implants heal. Here’s what to expect:

Soreness: You will experience pain in your jaw and gums, but fortunately you will have prescription painkillers to help you manage your post-op pain.

Swelling: It is common for the jaw, gums, and cheeks to swell after surgery. To minimize swelling, you can apply ice packs at 15 minute intervals during the first 48 hours after the surgery. Swelling may last for up to a week.

Bruising: You may notice bruising or discoloration on your jawline, neck, and gums following the surgery. Bruising will become more noticeable as the swelling begins to go down, and should fade within about a week.

Now you might wonder…

…Will there be any long-term side effects?

Assuming your dental implants were correctly placed by an experienced and conscientious implant dentist, there should be little risk of any long-term side effects. For example, you may have recently seen headlines about nerve damage from dental implants. It is important to understand that in the rare cases where nerve impingement occurs, it is typically because of poor pre-op planning on the dentist’s part. Looking at your x-rays, your dentist should be able to tell if your nerves run too close to where the implant peg will be placed. If there is a concern, your dentist should order a 3D scan to pinpoint the location of the nerves. If nerve impingement is a risk, you would be informed before your surgery so you can decide whether to take that risk. It would not be a surprise side effect.

Want to Learn More About Dental Implants?

If you would like more information about dental implants, or if you would like to learn if you are a candidate for implants, please contact California Dental Group and request an appointment with one of our implant dentists.