Why Is Your Dental Implant Feeling Itchy?

There are always a few small teeth problems when you receive a dental implant. This is nothing serious, and it needs to be remembered that the implantation required a minor surgical procedure. As such, you can expect to feel some discomfort in the days immediately following the procedure. This is often experienced in conjunction with swelling and light bleeding. One thing you might not expect to feel is itching. How can a dental implant actually feel itchy? And is it anything to be worried about?

An Artificial Structure

A dental implant (the titanium alloy bolt implanted into your jaw, along with the prosthetic tooth attached to it) offers the best artificial replacement for a missing tooth. But of course, the entire structure of the implant is artificial and has no living tissue. This means it cannot register any sensation due to a total absence of nerves. If a dental implant feels itchy, it's in fact a feeling emanating from the tissues around the implant.

Nerve Fibres

Your body contains multiple sets of unmyelinated nerve fibres, and this is where the feelings of both pain and itchiness come from. The two sensations are very closely related. When you get a sense of itchiness around a newly installed dental implant, it's simply part of the healing process. Your body is essentially registering some discomfort as your jawbone and other tissues heal around the implant. It's certainly not an itch you should be scratching.

Finding Relief

If you feel any itchiness around your implant, it's unlikely to be severe. But in any event, you must refrain from scratching the site of the implant. This can aggravate the sensitive gingival tissues and can disrupt the healing process. If your dentist has approved you to use saltwater rinses, then this can offer relief. The saltwater has antiseptic properties which can help to soothe your gums. Similarly, the pain medication you're taking following your implant surgery can numb the site, masking any feeling of itchiness, so be sure that you're taking the correct dose. 

Should your itchiness worsen and become difficult to tolerate, you should consult the dentist who performed your dental implant surgery. This becomes more urgent if the itchiness is accompanied by excessive swelling and an increased amount of blood being lost from around the site of the implant. This can be a sign of infection around the implant and requires prompt intervention. Contact a clinic for more information reading dental implants.