Pain After Dental Implants: Understanding What’s Normal While You Recover (2024)

If you’re thinking about getting dental implants from the office of Dr. James Burden in Williamsburg, you may be wondering what to expect from the treatment process, and whether or not you’ll feel pain after your surgery. Let’s discuss the basics of pain after dental implants now.

Your Pain & Discomfort Will Peak Within 1-3 Days Of Your Surgery

You likely will not feel much pain or discomfort immediately after your surgery, since your mouth will be numbed and you may be sedated. However, you will likely feel pain in a few hours after these medications wear off.

If Dr. Burden has given you a prescription for painkillers, fill it and take them as directed. If not, you can mitigate your pain using medicine like aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen. Salt water rinses can help with inflammation and pain, and keep your mouth clean. You can also apply an ice pack for 10 minutes at a time to the cheek near the affected area.

For the next 1-3 days, you will experience pain and discomfort, as well as swelling and bruising around the treatment area. Intermittent bleeding is also common during this time. You’ll need to follow Dr. Burdens’ recovery instructions and eat soft foods, avoid physical exertion, and take things easy to ensure you recover quickly. You can usually return to work or school within a day or two of your implant placement.

Symptoms Typically Start To Fade After 3-7 Days

Most patients will notice a reduction in symptoms like pain, bleeding, swelling, and bruising within 3-7 days after their treatment. During this time, you’ll be able to phase solid foods back into your diet, and begin brushing the implant area gently with a soft-bristled toothbrush.

While the implant site may still feel a bit tender after about a week, you should notice a dramatic reduction in swelling and bruising, and the implant site should no longer be bleeding.

You Will Feel Normal After Between 1-2 Weeks After Treatment

Most patients will make a full recovery within 1-2 weeks post-surgery. Your implant site may feel slightly sore under pressure, but by the end of two weeks, you should be experiencing minimal bruising, swelling, and pain. Around this time, you’ll visit Dr. Burden for a post-implant follow up.

If you are experiencing a lot of pain and discomfort near your implant site more than 2 weeks after your implant surgery, this is not normal. It could indicate that you’re experiencing a complication like peri-implantitis (infection of the gums around the dental implant), or that your implant has not bonded with your gum and jaw tissue properly. You need to see Dr. Burden for an immediate follow up to assess the condition of your implant and get the treatment you need.

Know What To Expect From Your Dental Implant Surgery & When To Get Help!


Whether you’re still considering dental implants in Williamsburg or you’ve recently had an implant placed, it’s important to know what to expect after your treatment. Got other questions, or interested in a dental implant? Contact the office of James A. Burden DDS and Associates now for an appointment, or give us a call to get started and see if you’re a good candidate for dental implants.

Pain After Dental Implants: Understanding What’s Normal While You Recover (2024)

FAQs

Pain After Dental Implants: Understanding What’s Normal While You Recover? ›

It's Normal To Feel Some Minor Discomfort Up To A Week After Surgery. Although you should not feel much pain, you may still experience some tenderness and discomfort near the surgical site(s) for up to a week after your surgery. During this time, it's important to continue following your post-op instructions from Dr.

How long should you have pain after a dental implant? ›

How Long Will It Take For Pain from an Implant to Subside? In most cases, the discomfort will peak within about 3-5 days after your treatment, and then begin to subside relatively quickly. By the end of your first week post-surgery, you should be feeling little, if any, discomfort and pain.

How long to take painkillers after a dental implant? ›

Most people need regular painkillers, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. You can buy them at a pharmacy or shop. It is best to take painkillers before the local anaesthetic wears off and for the first 48 hours (2 days) after treatment.

Why are my dental implants throbbing? ›

If you experience dental implant pain, it is important to visit your dentist immediately. While some discomfort is normal following implant surgery, severe pain could indicate that the implant is failing or that an infection is present.

Is it normal to feel pressure after a dental implant? ›

Much like other surgical procedures, dental implants need time to heal. During this phase, your implant is gradually bonding with the nearby tissue and the jawbone. This natural process can sometimes produce sensations of pressure, particularly in the weeks immediately after the surgery.

How do I know if my dental implant is healing correctly? ›

After about 2 weeks, your implant site should feel almost completely normal. The gum near the implant may be a little bit tender, but you shouldn't be feeling any significant pain. You should be able to eat and brush completely normally.

How do you know if you have nerve damage from dental implants? ›

Numbness usually will be felt on the side of implant placement, including the lower lip and chin. Another symptom that may indicate nerve damage is the feeling of tingling, tickling, or burning skin in other words, paraesthesia. In some cases, numbness may not appear immediately but later on.

What is the best pain relief after dental implants? ›

Acute pain management should always start with over-the-counter pain medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®) or ibuprofen (Motrin®, Advil®). If your surgeon approves these medications for you, you should take them as directed on the pill bottles, or by your surgeon.

What is the most painful part of a dental implant? ›

Bruising of the gum around the implant site often causes this pain, not to forget whenever one is brushing around the implant site. Besides the pain and the bruising of the gums, here's what to expect after a dental implant procedure: Discomfort around the cheeks, chin, and underneath the eyes.

How to speed up dental implant healing? ›

5 Steps To Speed Up Recovery After Dental Implant Surgery
  1. Keep your teeth healthy and clean. Maintaining dental hygiene is crucial for a successful and speedy recovery after dental implant surgery. ...
  2. Rest and relaxation. ...
  3. Diet. ...
  4. Medications. ...
  5. Exercise. ...
  6. Summary.
Feb 6, 2024

Why do my implants hurt so bad? ›

Painful or uncomfortable implants can indicate a number of issues that require a breast implant revision, including capsular contracture, damaged lymph nodes, a developing seroma, pinched nerves or poor implant placement. If you have silicone implants, pain may be a sign your implant has ruptured or is leaking.

Why does my implant feel like a toothache? ›

Sensitivity When Putting Pressure On The Implant

It should feel just like a normal tooth. Sensitivity when biting may mean that the implant is infected, or that it has not been properly bonded with your jaw and gum tissue.

How do I know if my body is rejecting my dental implant? ›

Redness, swelling, inflammation, and bleeding around the implantation site is a bad sign after the initial few days.

How long does it take for a dental implant to stop hurting? ›

1 week after surgery – Once a week has passed, you should notice a sharp decline in pain, as well as other symptoms like bruising and swelling. Your implant site should no longer be bleeding. 2 weeks after surgery – Some pain may persist up to 10-14 days after your surgery.

What does a failed dental implant feel like? ›

Recognizing a Failing Implant

When bone doesn't grow properly around an implant, the main sign is often mobility. At first, the movement might be slight and only recognizable by a dentist, but over time an implant that has failed to integrate will feel wobbly and could move when you chew or talk.

Can dental implants cause permanent pain? ›

Symptoms include tingling, numbness or pain in the gums, natural teeth, lips and chin. In many cases, symptoms are temporary and ease as the nerve heals. However, they can be debilitating and permanent. If this is the case, your dentist will have no option but to remove the dental implant.

How long does the pain last after getting the implant? ›

Bruising can last up to 2 weeks after inserting the birth control implant, but any arm soreness or tenderness at the injection site should go away within a few days. The hormonal side effects, like headaches and breast tenderness, usually go away after a few months once your body adjusts to the hormones.

How long does it take for a dental implant to settle in? ›

The bone graft creates a solid base for the implants to be placed. Once the posts are implanted in the jawbone, a process known as osseointegration takes place. Osseointegration is the fusing of the implant with the bone and usually takes around four to six months.

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