Cleaning To Prevent Gum Disease Around Your Dental Implant

If you have recently worked with your dentist or oral surgeon to have a dental implant placed in your mouth, then you have likely gone through a fairly long and serious surgical process. Thankfully, the process allows you to have a permanent tooth that looks and acts like one of your natural ones. However, you will need to care for the tooth properly to make sure it remains strong and stable in your jaw. Cleaning around the gums to prevent gum disease is one of the best ways you can do this. Keep reading to find out why you should work to prevent gum disease and also how you can clean around the implant properly.

Why Should You Prevent Gum Disease?

Dental implants are placed in the jaw and they rely heavily on the dental implant root for strength. This root bonds to the jaw bone during a process called osseointegration. This is where your body fills in all the holes in the bone around the dental implant so the root and the jaw becomes a single structure. However, the bone around the implant root can wear away, much like it does around the natural teeth. This can occur if bacteria work their way underneath the gums that surround the implant. The bacteria then eat away at the jawbone. 

Bacteria are most likely to move underneath the gum tissues if your gums are infected. Infections cause the gums to swell and pull away from the crown on the top of the dental implant. This creates openings around the crown tooth where bacteria can migrate under the tissues. 

How Can You Clean To Keep Gum Disease At Bay?

You can prevent gum disease fairly easily around the dental implant by simply cleaning the device properly. The dental implant crown will sit on top of a device called an abutment. The abutment screws into a hole that lines the top of the implant root, and the crown tooth sits on top of the abutment. At the bottom of the abutment will sit a small lip where bacteria can gather. The lip will sit just underneath the gum tissues, and you should make sure that this area of the implant tooth is cleaned as thoroughly as possible.

To clean the lip part of the implant, you will need to purchase a tool called a water flosser. Water flossers are oral irrigation devices that force water into the mouth with a good deal of pressure. The water flushes food matter and bacteria out of the mouth. Make sure the flosser you buy has a small tip that can be aimed towards the gum tissues. Hold the flosser tip about one-quarter to one-half inch from the gums and angle the water stream towards the bottom of the implant crown. Work the flosser around the perimeter of the tooth to thoroughly clean it. 

For more information, contact local professionals like Gordon Dental.

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