Living with a Full Arch
The teeth are fixed in place, yet they still need care. Here's a practical look at the early weeks, eating, cleaning at home, and the dental examinations that keep your implants healthy.
What Is Everyday Life Like Once You Have Full-Arch Implants?
With the permanent bridge in place, most people eat whatever they fancy, without fixative and without removing anything at night. In return you'll spend around ten minutes a day cleaning, under the bridge as well, and see the hygienist every three months. Dr Kalsi and the team in Lanark review your implants regularly, so minor issues are spotted early.
The First Days After Surgery
On our Same-Day and Premium pathways, most people leave with fixed temporary teeth in place; 1 on Healed Foundation and Staged, you'll be wearing a denture while the implants heal. Expect swelling, which normally peaks on the second or third day, and perhaps some bruising on your cheeks or chin that fades over a week or so. Everyday painkillers, taken as we recommend, are usually enough.
Your voice may sound a little different to begin with, as your tongue gets used to a new shape. Reading out loud speeds this up, and within a few weeks most people sound like themselves again.
Eating While the Implants Heal
Over roughly three months, bone grows onto the implants, and they need to be left undisturbed while it does. Stick to food soft enough to cut with the edge of a fork, such as scrambled eggs, soup, mince, pasta, fish, well-cooked vegetables and porridge.
Avoid anything you'd need to bite through or chew firmly, like bread crusts, apples or steak. People find this the hardest rule to follow, and it's the most important one.
Curious How You'd Manage?
Message us on WhatsApp with your questions and the Lanark team will get back to you.
Eating with the Final Bridge
When the permanent bridge goes in, you can widen your diet a great deal. Someone who had been cutting apples into thin slices for years can bite straight into one.
Be sensible with very hard foods. Crunching ice or boiled sweets, or biting down on a bone, can chip any bridge, just as it can chip your own teeth.
What You'll Clean With
| Item | Its job |
|---|---|
| Electric or soft toothbrush | Cleaning the teeth and the edge where the bridge meets the gum, morning and night |
| Water flosser | Rinsing beneath the bridge each day, where brushes can't get to |
| Interdental brushes | Cleaning around each implant at the point it emerges from the gum |
| Night guard | Shielding the bridge if you clench or grind your teeth |
Fiona Dyer, our hygienist, will show you how to use each of them. Food often gets caught under the bridge at first, and this improves as the gum settles down.
Why Hygiene Visits Matter
We'll see you every three months, as that's how often the gum around implants needs professional cleaning to stay healthy, and your guarantee relies on it. At these visits and at your reviews, we:
- clean carefully around every implant using instruments suited to implant surfaces
- make sure your bite is even and the screws are tight
- take X-rays from time to time to check the bone level
- clean underneath the bridge while it stays screwed in place
Four hygiene visits a year come with Plan B membership, which costs £40.16 a month and lines up neatly with a visit every three months. Our guide to how long implants last explains why these appointments are so important.
Habits That Keep Implants Healthy
Smoking poses the greatest single risk. It slows healing and increases the chance of gum infection around implants, and that's why our guarantee covers non-smokers. Diabetes that isn't well controlled is the next thing to keep an eye on.
Otherwise, wear your night guard if you have one, and don't ignore a problem. Tenderness, bleeding, an unpleasant taste or a bite that suddenly feels wrong all deserve a phone call, and most are straightforward to put right if caught early.
If Something Needs Fixing
- A screw comes loose. After years of chewing, one can work slack. We retighten or replace it, often in a quick appointment.
- A tooth chips. Acrylic can usually be repaired at the practice. Zirconia is sent back to the lab.
- Gum becomes sore or swollen. This often means cleaning has slipped. A professional clean and improved brushing at home normally sort it out.
- An implant fails. This is unusual, and the remaining implants generally keep the bridge in place while we deal with it.
Catching these things early is exactly what your regular appointments are for.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.