Had bone graft and abutment fitted last Monday. When it is safe to wear my flipper?

[MountainMama]

I want to use straw because I feel like every time when I drink soup or flavored drinks, it might get into the implant and hard to clean. To be honest, I am still not comfortable brushing on the healing cap and the gum. The dental assistant told me to brush in a circular moment when brushing heading cap. I really don’t know what is the correct way to brush. And just read online that sometimes the healing cap comes out. Has that ballot to before? I wish I can go back for a quick appointment on a monthly basis to just check on how it progress. Three months seem like a long time.

The healing cap won’t come out! I had that fear myself at first, but when they took it out to do impressions for my crown, I saw what it looked like and lost that fear. It is like a screw. So the healing cap is actually screwed into the implant. I have never even had mine loosen, and I have had four implants now.

It won’t hurt the healing cap to get food on it. It is snug in your gums and nothing will get past it to the implant. Just avoid crunchy stuff on it or sticky stuff. My first one I was a nervous wreck. After that I realized they clean easily. I didn’t do a circular motion, just brushed it and used an interdental brush on the sides of it once the swelling went down.

 

[Kate2022]

@MountainMama I wonder if it hurts when the dentist unscrew the healing cap? Also, how can they tell the implant is ready for the tooth? I am so afraid of doing the impression. It feels like it’s going for pull all my teeth out, especially now that it has a screw. What if the screw is pulled out? I know I am thinking too much.

Every day I feel different. There are days when my gum feels sore and I feel the screw is inside my gum making me uncomfortable (no pain though). Today, I don’t feel anything, but afraid spraying the implant with salt water using a syringe after lunch, I can actually feel the healing cap in the back of my gum. Before I only feel the gum, but today when I licked the back of my gum, I can feel it. Everyday just afraid that the screw will fall out. Lol Do you rinse your mouth after every meal until your put in your tooth?

 

[MountainMama]

I never used a syringe or rinsed my mouth after meals. I just brushed as usual twice a day and brushed the healing cap.

You feel more of the healing cap because the gums were swollen after the procedure and now it is starting to go back down. You will feel more of it over the next few days. It won’t fall out. You would feel it getting loose. It wouldn’t just fall out.

It does not really hurt to unscrew it but it does feel weird. You feel pressure and a tugging sensation. I was always holding my breath at that point, worrying it was loose. At my last implant, when it was ready for the crown, the dentist hesitated as he unscrewed the healing cap and said “I thought I felt a little give for a second but it is fine”. I asked him how he knew it was not loose. He said that as soon as they start unscrewing it, they can tell if it is loose.

 

[Kate2022]

@MountainMama Oh no, I’ll probably be panicking again when it becomes loose, but I’ll keep it in mind of what you told me.

I am a little worried because the surgeon gives me a three month window to put the crown. He always seems rushed. Like I mentioned before, the stitches were said to take out in 3 weeks and now only one week. I read in a lot of websites, we need to wait about 3-6 months to put crown. In the past, he was even thinking about 2 months. I don’t eat too much food with calcium especially on and off I am still experiencing difficulties in breathing and swallowing. I just can’t imagine how my bones will grow. Maybe I should ask to postpone for another month just to be safe.

 

[MountainMama]

@Kate2022 I wouldn’t worry about the healing cap becoming loose. It is very unlikely.
Also, they will do an X-ray before they remove the healing cap, to check the bone growth. Some dentists like to wait longer than others.

If it makes you feel better, I had a LOT of bone loss with my front tooth and the surgeon checked the implant at 4 months and everything was perfect. With my latest molar implant, they did the crown at 3 months and it was also fine. It was a different dentist.

 

[Kate2022]

@MountainMama Hi, how you are doing well! I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I had my implant. Next week, I have an appointment with the oral surgeon to see if it’s ready for crown. I am a bit nervous now. Just curious, before you had the surgery, does the surgeon asked you to select the the screw? My sister’s coworker told her that there are a lot of options and the cost varies, but the oral surgeon never asked me. I wonder if the option determines how long the implant will last. Also, I read online that there or two way to put on the crown for front tooth, one is using cement to seal the gap and the other type is the regular way where the dentist just screw it on. Which type did you used? I had a feeling that they are not giving me options either. Also, how long do you have to wait in order to use your front teeth to bite on food after the crown has been placed? Have you done any deep cleaning before or after putting the crown. I only did the bottom gum and I’ve been worried to do deep cleaning on upper gum where the implant is placed. I am debating if it’s a good idea to do it before of after the crown being placed. And of course, not even sure if everything is ok with the implant. I don’t experience any pain these days, but sometimes I just feel some numbness with the two teeth between the implant. I am also afraid doing the impression. It feels like it’s pulling out all my teeth. So many worries all of a sudden. But again, I feel fortunate that I don’t have to wait for a year. And al these days, my toddler tells me that that I have a missing tooth and I don’t want to remind her that she was the one causing it. Lol

 

[MountainMama]

@MountainMama Hi, how you are doing well! I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I had my implant. Next week, I have an appointment with the oral surgeon to see if it’s ready for crown. I am a bit nervous now. Just curious, before you had the surgery, does the surgeon asked you to select the the screw? My sister’s coworker told her that there are a lot of options and the cost varies, but the oral surgeon never asked me. I wonder if the option determines how long the implant will last. Also, I read online that there or two way to put on the crown for front tooth, one is using cement to seal the gap and the other type is the regular way where the dentist just screw it on. Which type did you used? I had a feeling that they are not giving me options either. Also, how long do you have to wait in order to use your front teeth to bite on food after the crown has been placed? Have you done any deep cleaning before or after putting the crown. I only did the bottom gum and I’ve been worried to do deep cleaning on upper gum where the implant is placed. I am debating if it’s a good idea to do it before of after the crown being placed. And of course, not even sure if everything is ok with the implant. I don’t experience any pain these days, but sometimes I just feel some numbness with the two teeth between the implant. I am also afraid doing the impression. It feels like it’s pulling out all my teeth. So many worries all of a sudden. But again, I feel fortunate that I don’t have to wait for a year. And al these days, my toddler tells me that that I have a missing tooth and I don’t want to remind her that she was the one causing it. Lol

From what I was told, the method of cement vs screw depends on a few different factors. My front tooth was cement at first. I hated the first crown. It didn’t fit with my other teeth. The dentist said he was doing cement because front teeth are harder to do screw retained, due to the angle of the tooth and implant. With mine, you could see the metal abutment through my gums, and the dentist decided to do a screw retained. He used some kind of angled abutment and made it zirconia so it wouldn’t be dark. I like the screw retained much better but I don’t think it has a difference on longevity.

You can eat on it immediately after placement of the crown. I didn’t because I was a total chicken. I got used to it slowly and gradually tried biting more and more. I had, and still have, a numb spot between my front tooth and the lateral incisor, but it was nerve damage from the apico that I had, not from the implant. It did make it feel weird at first when I bit. Now I can bite into pizza crust without even thinking about it.

I am not sure about the deep cleaning question. I have only ever flossed and brushed around the healing cap, and then the crown. Flossing is weird because the floss goes all the way under the crown, but you have to get to the base of the crown, but be gentle. You don’t clean the implant itself.

I hate impressions also. It also makes me worry about pulling out my teeth. My oral surgeon told me that the implants were the strongest teeth in my mouth. Lol. They won’t come out.

 

[Kate2022]

@MountainMama Thank you again for sharing with me your experience. I went to see the oral surgeon two weeks ago. He used a mental and lightly touched my implant and told me that it’s ready for crown. It took less than a minute. He seemed busy all the time rushing between appointments with sweats on his face. I didn’t even bother him with questions. He said they will send the referral to the dentist and they should reach out to me to an appointment to do the impression. I waited for one week, no one has reached out to me. So I emailed the dental office and they didn’t get back to me until today (a week later). So I am waiting for my dental appointment next Friday and was said the appointment with the impression will take about 50 minutes and about 3 weeks for the crown. So when I had my first dental appointment 5 months and 3 days ago, they told me that it will take 3-4 months. Now that if everything goes with what they told me, it’s taking 6 months! Did you end up taking more than 4 months from start to finish? If I knew it will take this long, I would have asked them to fix the tooth flipper. I can’t even wear it now because the oral surgeon did a sloppy job and their sharp edges on top and mental popped up on the gum area. I haven’t been wearing it at all after the implant. I hope my teeth didn’t get repositioned. Honestly, I feel like the waiting process is very stressful. I haven’t taken photos with a big smile for a long time.

 

[MountainMama]

@MountainMama Thank you again for sharing with me your experience. I went to see the oral surgeon two weeks ago. He used a mental and lightly touched my implant and told me that it’s ready for crown. It took less than a minute. He seemed busy all the time rushing between appointments with sweats on his face. I didn’t even bother him with questions. He said they will send the referral to the dentist and they should reach out to me to an appointment to do the impression. I waited for one week, no one has reached out to me. So I emailed the dental office and they didn’t get back to me until today (a week later). So I am waiting for my dental appointment next Friday and was said the appointment with the impression will take about 50 minutes and about 3 weeks for the crown. So when I had my first dental appointment 5 months and 3 days ago, they told me that it will take 3-4 months. Now that if everything goes with what they told me, it’s taking 6 months! Did you end up taking more than 4 months from start to finish? If I knew it will take this long, I would have asked them to fix the tooth flipper. I can’t even wear it now because the oral surgeon did a sloppy job and their sharp edges on top and mental popped up on the gum area. I haven’t been wearing it at all after the implant. I hope my teeth didn’t get repositioned. Honestly, I feel like the waiting process is very stressful. I haven’t taken photos with a big smile for a long time.

So far, my actual appointment with the impressions was almost right at four months from the time of implant. Then it was another month to get the crown placed. With my front tooth it was closer to six months but that was due to Covid.

 

[Kate2022]

So far, my actual appointment with the impressions was almost right at four months from the time of implant. Then it was another month to get the crown placed. With my front tooth it was closer to six months but that was due to Covid.

It’s been 4 weeks since I got an okay from the oral surgeon. It took forever for the dental office to follow up with my case. Before that, they were always so quick in responding to my questions and so proactive and constantly called me to check on me. So weird. I am going to have my appointment for the impression tomorrow. And it will take another 3 weeks for the lab to get the crown done. It’s really been a stressful experience when they told me 3-4 months and now ends up with 7 months and worrying all these time that my other teeth will fall out. There are so many events that I have missed due to missing tooth. With them posting, I can’t even make it for my wedding anniversary celebration which is less than 3 weeks from now.

The appointment tomorrow will take about 50 minutes. Last time when I did the tooth flipper it took less than 2 minutes. Do you have any idea what will be covered during the appointment? I am not even sure if I should Google the process and prepare to ask questions.

Have a wonderful evening!

 

[Scaredbutready]

@Kate2022your impression appointment should be easy and straightforward. They’ll do the moulds for top and bottom to make sure the crown fits and they have to stay in your mouth for a bit. Then it should be choosing a color crown to match your teeth. At least that’s what it was for my appointment and it took about 45 minutes. Hope all goes well, an Implant is quite a process, but well worth it.

 

[Kate2022]

@Kate2022your impression appointment should be easy and straightforward. They’ll do the moulds for top and bottom to make sure the crown fits and they have to stay in your mouth for a bit. Then it should be choosing a color crown to match your teeth. At least that’s what it was for my appointment and it took about 45 minutes. Hope all goes well, an Implant is quite a process, but well worth it.

Thank you so much for your prompt response. Hope it doesn’t hurt much and that everything goes well. I feel like I’ve been on depression for the past half year and it greatly impacted my health. I am sure it’ll all be worth it. And so thankful to join this group. Everyone is so supportive of each other!

 

[MountainMama]

Thank you so much for your prompt response. Hope it doesn’t hurt much and that everything goes well. I feel like I’ve been on depression for the past half year and it greatly impacted my health. I am sure it’ll all be worth it. And so thankful to join this group. Everyone is so supportive of each other!

It should not hurt. It will feel really weird, with the screwing and unscrewing of abutments for impressions but not painful. It does take awhile but is very easy.

 

[Kate2022]

It should not hurt. It will feel really weird, with the screwing and unscrewing of abutments for impressions but not painful. It does take awhile but is very easy.

Thank you! I can’t wait to get this done this afternoon!

 

[Kate2022]

Just had my appointment. It was quick, less than 30 minutes. The dentist is never there to help nor to observe. It’s almost the assistant who does everything. She tried many times to unscrew the cap. When she put in the screw, I was very much in pain and usually my pain tolerance is very good. Glad that it’s over. Now I have to wait another 4 weeks for the crown. Just a little disappointed that a 4 month commitment turned into 7 months. I can’t wait for mid October!

 

[Kate2022]

This afternoon they unscrewed the healing cap and then screwed something in before performing the impression. Do you know what it is that they screwed in? They screwed it out and put back the healing cap. Meanwhile, the dental assistance also trimmed my #7 tooth. Until now, my #7 tooth and the gum on implant site next to #7 feel very sore. Has anyone experienced this? Not sure if it’s normal.

 

[MountainMama]

Just had my appointment. It was quick, less than 30 minutes. The dentist is never there to help nor to observe. It’s almost the assistant who does everything. She tried many times to unscrew the cap. When she put in the screw, I was very much in pain and usually my pain tolerance is very good. Glad that it’s over. Now I have to wait another 4 weeks for the crown. Just a little disappointed that a 4 month commitment turned into 7 months. I can’t wait for mid October!

I bet she got some of the gum flap between the screw and the implant. My dentist did that once and it really hurt. When I said it hurt he immediately said that was probably what happened and was more careful the next time.

 

[Kate2022]

I bet she got some of the gum flap between the screw and the implant. My dentist did that once and it really hurt. When I said it hurt he immediately said that was probably what happened and was more careful the next time.

Aww…that makes sense. Thankfully, the soreness is gone. When I watched YouTube last night about the impression process, it seems like an X-ray is required to make sure the impression coping us screwed correctly, but they didn’t take an X-ray for me. Hopefully it turns out fine. For the final crown placement, is it pretty much the same as impression? Thanks!

 

[Kate2022]

@MountainMama @Scaredbutready Thank you both for all your advices throughout my implant process! I finally got my final tooth yesterday though I am still have to take a bite using the new tooth. But what a relief!

 

[MountainMama]

@MountainMama @Scaredbutready Thank you both for all your advices throughout my implant process! I finally got my final tooth yesterday though I am still have to take a bite using the new tooth. But what a relief!

It took me several months before it felt natural biting with the implant crown.