Living with a Full Arch
Fixed teeth still need care. A practical guide to the first few weeks, what to eat, cleaning at home and the check-ups that keep the implants healthy.
What Is Everyday Life Like with Full-Arch Implants?
With the permanent bridge fitted, the great majority of people eat whatever they fancy, with no adhesive involved and nothing to take out at night. In return you give it around ten minutes of cleaning each day, under the bridge included, and see the hygienist every three months. Our implant dentist and the Broughty Ferry team check the implants at regular reviews, so anything minor is picked up before it becomes anything major.
The First Few Days
If you are on Same-Day Fixed Teeth or Premium Guided Zirconia, you normally go home with fixed temporary teeth in place, provided your bone and the grip of the implants allowed it on the day (if they didn't, your pathway fee is unchanged); 1 with Healed Foundation or Staged Treatment, a removable denture sees you through the healing months instead. There will be swelling, generally peaking on day two or three, and perhaps some bruising on the cheeks or chin which clears within a week or thereabouts. Standard painkillers, taken as we direct, are normally enough.
Your speech may sound a little odd to begin with, as your tongue adjusts to a new shape in the mouth. Reading aloud speeds that up, and most people are back to sounding like themselves inside a few weeks.
Eating While the Implants Heal
Over roughly the first three months the bone is fusing to the implants, and they must not be disturbed. So the rule is anything you could cut with the edge of a fork: porridge, soup, scrambled eggs, pasta, mince, flaky fish, vegetables cooked until soft.
Leave out anything that needs a bite or a hard chew, such as crusty bread, apples or steak. Of all the instructions, this is the one people struggle with most, and the one that counts most.
Curious How You'd Manage?
Put your questions to our Broughty Ferry team on WhatsApp and we'll get back to you.
Eating with the Permanent Bridge
When the final bridge goes in, the menu opens up again. People who've spent years cutting apples into thin pieces find they can bite into a whole one again.
Even so, be sensible with anything very hard. Crunching ice, chewing boiled sweets or biting on a bone could chip any bridge, exactly as it could a natural tooth.
What's in Your Cleaning Kit
| Tool | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Electric or soft-bristled brush | The teeth and the junction between bridge and gum, morning and night |
| Water flosser | Flushing beneath the bridge daily, in the spaces a brush can't get to |
| Interdental brushes | Every implant, at the spot where it meets the gum |
| Night guard | Guarding the bridge against clenching or grinding |
Our hygienist shows you how each one is used. Food getting caught beneath the bridge is common in the early weeks and settles as the gum firms up.
What Happens at Hygiene Appointments
You're booked in every three months, because that's the interval at which the gum surrounding implants needs professional cleaning to stay healthy. It's also a condition of the guarantee. At these appointments and at your reviews we:
- clean round each implant using Airflow and hand instruments
- confirm the bite is balanced and the screws are tight
- take the occasional X-ray to monitor the bone level
- clean the underside of the bridge and the gum beneath it, with the bridge still fixed to the implants
For £40.16 a month, Plan B membership provides four hygiene appointments a year, which lines up with the three-monthly routine. Why these visits matter so much is explained in the implant lifespan guide.
Habits That Keep Implants Safe
Nothing threatens implants more than smoking. It holds back healing and raises the likelihood of gum infection around the implants, which is why our guarantee is limited to non-smokers. Diabetes that isn't well controlled comes next on the list.
Otherwise, if you've been given a night guard, wear it, and don't sit on a problem. A sore spot, bleeding, a nasty taste or a bite that abruptly feels different: each of these merits a phone call, and caught early, most are simple to put right.
If Something Goes Wrong
- A screw working loose. Years of chewing can loosen one. We tighten or replace it, usually in a brief appointment.
- A chipped tooth. Acrylic can generally be mended in the chair. Zirconia has to go back to the laboratory.
- Tender or swollen gum. Frequently a sign that cleaning has lapsed. A professional clean plus improved technique at home usually calms it.
- An implant failing. Rare, and the remaining implants usually support the bridge while it's sorted out.
This is exactly what the regular appointments exist for.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.