Nutrients That Help Promote Healing After Dental Implant Surgery

Maintaining proper nutrition after undergoing your dental implant procedure helps promote healing and lowers the risk of infection. Getting your recommended daily allowances for essential vitamins and minerals through the foods you eat is important. If, however, your dietary intake fails to meet the recommended daily allowances for essential nutrients, then both your physician and dentist may recommend that you take an over-the-counter vitamin and mineral supplement. Here are some nutrients you will need to help ensure optimal oral health following dental implant surgery.

Vitamin A

Osteoclasts help keep your bones healthy after implant surgery. They are the bone cells that are essential to bone healing and growth. Vitamin A helps your body manufacture osteoclasts, which help keep the bones that support your dental implants strong and healthy.

Osteoclasts can also help ensure proper blood flow to your jawbone, which will help keep your implants stable. Foods that contain vitamin A include carrots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, eggs, and cod liver oil. In addition to keeping your jawbone healthy, vitamin A also helps promote gum health, relieves dry mouth, keeps your natural teeth strong, and lowers your risk for cavities. If you are unable to consume vitamin A-rich foods, consider a multivitamin, which contains the recommended daily amount of this essential nutrient.

Vitamin C

Like vitamin A, vitamin C helps your body manufacture osteoclasts. It also helps keep the soft tissue in your mouth healthy and resistant to inflammation and infection. When you eat vitamin C-rich foods such as oranges, kiwi, strawberries, kale, and grapefruit, it also lowers your risk for periodontal disease, gum inflammation, and bleeding gums. Periodontal diseases such as periodontitis are a severe type of gum disease and can destroy the underlying bones that support your natural teeth and dental implant rods.

If you choose to take a vitamin C supplement instead of eating vitamin C-rich foods, talk to your dentist about the dose. Taking high doses of vitamin C may raise your risk for enamel erosion and it may also lead to acid reflux. If you smoke, drink large amounts of coffee, suffer from extreme stress, or take large doses of aspirin, it is even more important that you get your recommended daily allowances for vitamin C. 

To learn more about how proper nutrition can play a role in healing after your dental implant procedure, talk to your dentist. If you have a nutritional deficiency that has been diagnosed by your physician, your dentist may recommend that you treat it before undergoing your procedure.