Is it possible to smoke after dental implantation and why?

How does nicotine affect teeth?

Before entering the lungs, tobacco smoke passes through the mouth, therefore affecting the lips, teeth and gums.
The following factors influence the condition of the oral cavity:

Heat. Cigarette smoke enters the mouth of a smoker in a very hot state and affects the integrity of tooth enamel. Exposure to high temperatures may cause it to darken or crack.
Nicotine and tobacco tars thin out bone tissue, including the jaw. In extreme cases, bone atrophy begins, due to which it will be impossible to install implants without additional bone augmentation procedures.
Poor effect on the immune system. Nicotine often causes inflammation. Experienced smokers often develop osteomyelitis of the jaw. Often, an addiction leads to mucosal cancer.
Smoking is one of the reasons for the rejection of dental implants, which can occur at any stage of using a prosthesis.
When you regularly smoke tobacco products, a thick plaque forms on your teeth, which becomes a habitat for bacteria. Their vital activity disrupts the microflora of the oral cavity, weakening the entire dental system.
Increased salivation, which irritates the oral mucosa and enamel. Often causes dental diseases.

What complications can arise on the operating table?

No complex surgical operation is performed without anesthesia; it is generally safe. However, if the patient smokes, he should think about the consequences of nicotine on the body:

Strong effects on the nervous system and brain. Very often this leads to a weak response to prophylaxis carried out immediately before the operation itself. The pain threshold increases, which impairs the body's regeneration after surgery.
Deterioration of the cardiovascular system. The threat in this case is represented by a zero reaction to anesthesia. A person can “fall” into sleep for only a few minutes, and then wake up. Also in some cases there is a violation of the respiratory tract.
Respiratory system disorder. The task becomes especially difficult for the anesthesiologist. It is necessary to calculate the personal dose of oxygen, analgesics and other necessary substances. During the operation, breathing failures are possible, which can lead to asystole (circulatory arrest, during which contractions of different parts of the heart stop).

Implantation and smoking

Smoking complicates the operation and increases the likelihood of complications during healing. When a person smokes, thin air is created in the mouth, which prevents the formation of a blood clot. Tissue healing is complicated, and frequent bleeding accompanies the rehabilitation period.

Note: nicotine constricts blood vessels. Because of this, stagnation and suppuration of wounds are formed.

These reasons answer the question: “Why can’t you smoke after having implants installed?” Tissues heal much more slowly than in non-smoking people, osseointegration takes longer. Sometimes smoking after dental implantation causes the sutures placed on the gums to come apart. The risk of implant rejection increases and mobility increases.

Smoking after sinus lift and implantation

Often, before implantation, the dentist prescribes an operation for a smoking patient to increase the bone of the upper jaw, which is otherwise called a sinus lift.

Smoking after bone augmentation surgery or implant installation carries a 10% risk of complications during rehabilitation. The compacted layer of plaque due to tobacco smoke becomes a favorable environment for bacteria and microbes, whose vital activity causes inflammation.

Rehabilitation period

Carrying out a sinus lift is a real surgical procedure, so patients should adhere to several recommendations to avoid complications, namely:

take painkillers and antimicrobial medications prescribed by your doctor;
keep your mouth clean using a soft toothbrush without using toothpaste;
limit sports activities during the recovery period;
avoid cold and allergens, as sneezing, coughing and blowing your nose are prohibited at first;
refuse diving and air travel;
do not inflate balloons, walk or lift heavy objects;
eat only semi-liquid or highly crushed foods;
do not drink drinks through a straw;
quit smoking and alcohol.

All these rules and restrictions play a significant role in the process of wound healing after surgery. Unfortunately, some patients do not attach much importance to the consequences that such disorders can provoke. For example, air travel immediately after surgery can cause severe bleeding and rejection of implants, and drinking alcohol contributes to purulent processes on the gums, thins the blood and can provoke bleeding. Among all these points, it is not without reason that there is a ban on the use of tobacco products, since this, in the opinion of many, a relatively harmless habit entails the most unpredictable consequences.

When can you smoke after dental implantation?

Dentists recommend quitting smoking 2-3 weeks before surgery. It is worth quitting smoking to reduce the negative impact on the health and beauty of your teeth.

After installation of implants, you should refrain from smoking for a month, or minimize the number of cigarettes you smoke.

If you cannot quit smoking, you can use nicotine patches or e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes, smokeless and vaping devices are believed to be less harmful because they do not emit tar. However, the nicotine they produce still causes damage to the body and also complicates healing.

If you are not ready to quit smoking, your dentist will not be able to guarantee successful osseointegration. True, the risk of rejection of the structure is present regardless of smoking. Some implantologists estimate the service life of implants in smoking patients to be up to four years, while in non-smokers this period reaches ten years.

People who smoke and have implants need to pay careful attention to removing plaque from their teeth so that harmful microorganisms do not develop a habitat.

Summary -

It is very good if you choose the right type of implant with an ultra-hydrophilic surface. Ideally, even with a surface on which phosphorus molecules or fluorine ions are applied.

It is very good if you have chosen the correct surgical technique for installing the implant. We are talking about a two-stage classical implantation technique when installing a classic (crestal) type of implant, or about a basal implantation technique.

It is very good if you reduce the frequency of nicotine consumption several weeks before the operation and for 5-8 weeks after it, and even better, do not smoke at all during this time.

Important: But that's not all you need to know.
You must understand that if you continue to smoke after the implant has been implanted into the bone, then you will encounter the problem of accelerated bone atrophy around the neck of the implant (typical for classic-type implants). This means that over time your gum height will decrease and the metal surface of the implant will be exposed (Fig. 9). The latter circumstance will make the aesthetics almost unacceptable if we are talking about the anterior group of teeth and at the same time you have a high smile (with exposure of the gingival margin). We hope that our article: Smoking and implantation was useful to you!

Sources:

1. Add. professional

, 2. Personal experience of a dental surgeon (implantologist), 3. American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID), 4. National Library of Medicine (USA), 5. “Complications during dental implantation” (A.V. Vasiliev), 6 The National Center for Biotechnology Information (USA).

How does an implant take root in a smoker?

The following factors influence the osseointegration of a smoking patient:

Burns to the mucous membrane due to regular exposure to hot smoke. This provokes hyperkeratosis, which slows down reparative processes. The gums heal worse, and there is a risk of peri-implantitis.
The functioning of the salivary glands is disrupted, which leads to chronic drying of the mucous membrane. This affects not only the gums, but also the balance of the oral microflora - the number of harmful microorganisms increases, which ultimately provoke peri-implantitis or inflammation of the gums around the implant. This may lead to failure of the structure.
Nicotine constricts blood vessels, causing spasms. The speed of blood flow slows down, oxygen reaches the tissues less well, and the injured area receives fewer vitamins and building elements. The implant fuses with the bone less well.
The immune system weakens - the dental system is exposed to the negative influence of bacteria. As a result, inflammation occurs at the implant site.

Specifics of laser vision correction

Refractive errors occur when the eye is unable to focus light rays correctly on the retina, resulting in a blurred image.

Laser vision correction involves correcting the shape of the cornea so that the eyes can focus light correctly on the retina. The laser vision correction technique was first used at the end of the twentieth century, and since then it has been successfully used to correct visual impairments. Every year technologies become more modern and safe. The most advanced laser correction techniques allow you to correct refractive errors in a few minutes without complications and a long recovery period. Similar operations can be performed on people with myopia up to -12 diopters, hyperopia up to +6 diopters and mixed astigmatism from -4 to +4 diopters. Laser correction is the only way to restore clear vision to those people who are intolerant to any corrective optics. Contraindications to surgery are glaucoma, cataracts, progressive visual impairment, pathologies of the cornea, diabetes mellitus, and infectious eye diseases.

Is it possible to smoke after the implant has taken root?

The dentist cannot prohibit the patient from smoking; he can talk about the consequences, as well as give advice on how to quit the bad habit. Many people resume smoking when the implant takes root, that is, after 1-2 months. Tobacco smoke destroys bone, which provokes implant rejection. Bone separation also occurs in non-smokers, but smoking only increases the risk. Gradually, the gums may recede down to the body of the rod.

Nicotine poses a risk of peri-implantitis even after the implant has taken root. The gums change color and may turn red or, on the contrary, turn pale or blue. In critical cases, an abscess may form. To prevent possible complications, you need to take good care of your oral hygiene and visit your dentist regularly.

What is recommended to do if anesthesia is planned and you smoke?

Before general anesthesia, the doctor must warn in advance that smoking is strictly prohibited the day before the operation. This is due to an increased concentration of nicotine and smoke in the lungs, which can negatively affect an ultrasound of the heart or x-ray of the lungs. If the doctor’s recommendations have not been followed, spasms in the larynx may occur during the operation. Subsequently, everything will result in respiratory arrest.

Also, under general anesthesia, an extremely unpleasant circumstance can occur - asystole (cardiac arrest).

This is due to the fact that a smoker's heart requires many times more oxygen than the heart of a non-smoker. While the operation is underway, under the influence of anesthesia, the pulse may increase significantly, arrhythmia may begin, and the heart may simply reject the drug.

One should not ignore the fact that the success of the operations directly depends on the patients themselves. In this case, if the patient said goodbye to a bad habit several months before surgery, the risk of developing post-anesthesia complications is significantly reduced. It should also be noted that if the patient smoked his last cigarette the day before anesthesia, terrible consequences can be avoided.

During surgery, patients with nicotine addiction need large doses of anesthetics and narcotic analgesics.

This is due to the body’s increased resistance to foreign substances. After anesthesia, many patients require oxygen support, as impaired lung function makes itself felt.

Many smokers very often did not listen to doctors who forbade them to smoke before surgery. All this was due to the fact that they simply did not understand the full picture of side effects and how this could affect health. Smoking before surgery with anesthesia, sadly, leads to bronchitis and pneumonia. In addition, it was noted that in patients who smoked before surgery, the wounds are more likely to fester and the suture area to become inflamed.

Considering the risk a smoker who does not want to fight nicotine addiction can expose himself to, all that remains is to advise him to choose epidural or local anesthesia.

Other Important Reminders Regarding Rhinoplasty Recovery

Is it possible to fly on an airplane after rhinoplasty? You can do it 5-7 days after the operation, but you will have to fly with a bandage. It is better to wait 14 days so that you can be observed by your doctor who performed the operation.

Can I take antibiotics after rhinoplasty? Usually this issue is decided by the attending physician. Most often, antibiotics are prescribed without fail. This is done to prevent inflammatory processes from starting.

When can you plan a pregnancy after rhinoplasty? It is advised to plan replenishment no earlier than six months, and preferably a year after the operation. This is necessary so that the woman can fully recover and better cope with pregnancy and childbirth.