Dental Implants: Post-Surgical Bleeding Facts To Know
Posted on: 12 July 2019
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Missing teeth are often replaced through surgical means with dental implants or denture implants. Your dental surgeon will give you a great deal of information before the operation and you will have the opportunity to learn about some of the details of what might happen. You should be prepared for some bleeding after your surgery is over. Keep reading to learn about a few bleeding facts that can help you to understand what is normal after the procedure.
You Will See Oozing
When you speak with your oral surgeon, you will likely learn that you can expect a great deal of oozing from the surgical area. Oozing can last up to about 72 hours, but it can be sometimes difficult to understand exactly what the term oozing means. Typically, this is how your dental professional will describe the mixture of blood and saliva. The fluid will appear either pink or darker red depending on how long it has been from the date of the surgery.
Since saliva is mixed with blood, you can expect the fluid to be quite thick and it may stick to the gauze or the absorbent oral sponge quite strongly. So, keep an eye on the pads so you can tell when to switch them out so the fluid does not build up. Typically, you want to be removing one pad and then replacing it with another about once every two to four hours for the first day or two. On the third day, you can often switch out the pad once.
Clots Can Be Removed
If you remember back to the time when you had your wisdom teeth removed or when two or more teeth were extracted just before you received your braces, then you may remember that a blood clot must form in the extraction site. The clot is much like a scab that sits within the soft tissues and it covers the jaw bone. This protects the hard tissues and prevents a serious and painful medical problem called dry socket.
When it comes to dental implantation, there should be absolutely no exposure of the jaw. This is due to the way that the implant root actually sits in the bone, and you do not have to worry about a dry socket issue. So, if you see any clots developing, you can actually remove them gently instead of trying to keep them in place.
However, you may see some smaller scabs or clots forming around the perimeter of the implant where the surgery took place. You should not try to remove these scabs or you may experience some new bleeding issues.