Recovery After Bone Grafting: What to Expect

Do you need to have bone grafting performed before you can qualify for dental implants? If so, then it’s important to be aware of what will happen after the procedure. As with many kinds of oral surgery, a bone grafting procedure is followed by a recovery period. Here’s a brief look at what will happen while your mouth is healing as well as what you can do to take care of it during this time.

What Will Happen After Bone Grafting?

Your mouth will be numbed with a local anesthetic so that you don’t experience pain during the bone grafting procedure itself. Once the anesthetic wears off, you may notice some discomfort. Swelling and bruising will also occur in the days following the procedure. Fortunately, these types of symptoms are only temporary and should gradually start to fade as time passes.

It will be necessary for you to spend some time resting at home after your surgery. In many cases, you will be able to start working again after just a couple of days. However, certain patients may need to stay at home for longer than that.

Your mouth should start to feel normal again after a matter of weeks. That being said, the bone grafting material will need months to finish bonding with your jaw in order to create a reliable foundation for dental implants.

How Can You Make Sure Your Bone Grafting Recovery Goes Smoothly?

If you want to avoid complications during your bone grafting recovery, then you need to be mindful of the care you’re giving your smile. Here are a few tips for keeping the healing process on track:

• Carefully follow any aftercare instructions that you were given. For example, if you were prescribed any medication, be sure to take it according to the instructions.
• If there’s any swelling, you can reduce it by holding an ice pack over the area. Remember, you should only use an ice pack for 15-minute intervals.
• Do not eat any hard or crunchy foods while your mouth is still recovering. Stick to a diet of soft and liquid foods for the time being.
• Be careful when brushing your teeth. You will need to be gentle around the areas where bone grafting was performed.
• Start rinsing with salt water regularly. This is a great way to manage the level of harmful bacteria in your mouth and reduce the risk of an infection.

Bone grafting is often a necessary step for rebuilding your smile with dental implants. It’s important to do everything you can to make sure there aren’t any problems after the procedure so that you can look forward to enjoying a newly re-completed grin.

About the Author

Dr. Admasu Gizachew went to New York University for his dental degree, and he has completed dental implant training at Rutgers University. As an oral surgeon, he is proud of how much of a positive impact he is able to have on the lives of his patients. At Staten Island Oral Surgery Center, he offers bone grafting and many other types of oral surgery. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Gizachew, visit his website or call (718) 568-0405.