Dental implants do an excellent job of perfecting your smile and filling in gaps that might otherwise be embarrassing. Most people rarely experience any discomfort after the first month. If you still feel pain, especially intense, throbbing or sporadic pain or pain accompanied by swelling of your jaw, return to your dentist right away. It could be caused by one of the following problems.
A Fractured Jaw
In rare instances, pain and swelling of your jaw and face after dental implant surgery is indicative of a fractured jaw. Your dentist can take an X-ray of the area and determine if there is any damaged soft tissue or signs of a fractured jaw. A fracture is a sign that maybe the dental screws went in with a little too much force, or that your bone density was not enough to withstand the implant(s) in that area. Regardless of what caused the fracture, your dentist will refer you to a specialist to set your jaw, possibly wire it shut until the fracture heals, or utilize other means to heal the fracture. Since the removal of the implants could make the fracture worse, it is a last resort.
A Pocketful of Infection
An infection is another possible reason why pain and swelling are present. Again, as with a fractured jaw, your dentist will rely on what he or she sees in an X-ray, as well as an oral exam of the painful area. When an infection is present, the gum tissue is soft and squishy in the center, but hard around the edges. When an X-ray shows there is a dark pocket in the same area, your dentist can insert a needle to draw all of the pus out and then prescribe an antibiotic to kill the remaining infectious bacteria.
Something Much More Serious
Cancer of the jaw, bone, gums and/or teeth is rare. It will not occur simply because you got dental implants, but rather present itself and grow more rapidly after you have had dental implant surgery. Because your natural teeth are gone, the cancer is not slowed by natural teeth and spreads rapidly through the organic components of your mouth instead. The sooner you see a dentist and then an oncologist, the quicker you can begin treatment.
Do Not Play the Waiting Game
Most people try to avoid additional medical and dental bills after surgery, but the wait comes at a cost. Do not play the waiting game at the expense of your mouth. When you experience any pain past the point when you should be healed from implant surgery, see a dentist like Dr. James Oline right away.
Share10 February 2015
I knew that my hearing wasn’t as good as it had once been, but I was still upset when my doctor told me that I had a significant hearing loss in both ears, and that I was going to need hearing aids if I wanted to participate more fully in my day to day life. But then I started researching hearing aids. I was thrilled to find out that there were small, barely visible aids that could help me hear without marking me as hearing impaired on first glance. Even better, the hearing aids were much more advanced than I’d thought. The ones that I chose can actually help cancel out environmental noise, like the clatter of a loud restaurant, so that I can focus on conversation with the waitress or the person across the table. My hearing aids have really improved my life.
