The Importance of Proper Oral Hygiene Around Mini Implants

Good morning and welcome to Monday Morning Minute. I’m Dr. Todd Shatkin. Today I want to talk to you about the importance of proper oral hygiene around the mini implants, especially around fixed bridges and crowns on mini implants.

The biggest problem we see occasionally is inflammation of the gingival around the cuff of the mini implant crowns. The tissue tends to grow, grow up a little bit around the porcelain and aesthetically, it can look very nice because it looks like it’s coming right out of the soft tissue. But sometimes that tissue gets a little bit inflamed because patients don’t do the best job of cleaning.

So that’s why I’ve always given our patient a water flosser with their mini implant crowns. Every single patient that comes into my office that has even a single crown or multiple crowns or a roundhouse bridge on mini implants gets a H20 floss machine. Now, I don’t care what kind you give them, you can give any brand you want, but the importance is that they get a machine and they know they need to use it on a daily basis to flush out any bacteria and any food that might get in and around those restorations.

We also give an electric toothbrush to many of our patients who need a little extra help if their dexterity isn’t great on being able to clean. And we know older people have this issue where they may have arthritis or they may have difficulty really brushing their teeth well.

So an electric toothbrush along with the water flosser is an excellent option for them to help them do a great job of cleaning. So if you have any questions about that, please give one of us a call at Shatkin F.I.R.S.T.® And we’ll help you with the products that we recommend for that.

The other thing I like to recommend is the Tonic rinse and Tonic toothpaste. This is a great product for cleaning the gums, cleaning the mouth and giving them fresh breath. So that we’re coming out with a brand new kit that’s going to be made by Shatkin F.I.R.S.T.®, in conjunction with Dental Herb Company to have a specialized toothbrush to brush the mini implants, along with a rinse and a gel from Dental Herb, the Tonic rinse and tonic gel to keep the gums and the implants clean and healthy. So look out for that. It’s coming out very soon and we’ll have it available to you, but it’s very, very important. I can’t emphasize this enough to educate your patients on proper oral hygiene all the time, but especially around the mini implants. I hope this is an informative Monday Morning Minute, and I look forward to seeing you next time on the Monday Morning Minute.