Worried about stitches after implant surgery

I totally get the paranoia about food getting stuck - I was convinced I’d find a whole salad wedged in there, but honestly, I never saw anything obvious either. The saltwater rinses seemed to do the trick for me, and my dentist said as long as it’s not hurting or looking angry, it’s probably fine. Swelling-wise, mine was mostly gone in a week too, but that weird tightness stuck around for a couple more weeks. It just felt... not quite like my mouth yet, if that makes sense. Did you notice any weird taste or smell while it was healing? That was my big worry.

When my daughter had her implant done last summer, I was practically hovering over her with a flashlight every night, convinced something was going to go wrong with those stitches. The whole food thing - yeah, she was worried about that too. She kept saying it felt like there was always something stuck, even when we could see it was totally clear. I think it’s just that odd sensation from the stitches themselves, honestly.

She definitely had a bit of swelling for about a week, and then a kind of numb, tight feeling for a while after. She kept poking at her cheek like she expected it to just snap back to normal one day, but it took closer to three weeks before she forgot about it. As for taste or smell - that was actually the one thing her dentist warned us about: if you get a really bad taste or any strong odor, that could mean infection. But in her case, nothing like that ever happened. There was just this mild “hospital” taste for a few days, probably from the mouthwash and all the saltwater rinses.

One thing I wish someone had told us: the stitches themselves can start to feel weird as they dissolve. She thought something was wrong because she felt these little threads loosening up in her mouth, but apparently that’s just how they work. It freaked her out the first time one came out during dinner - she thought she’d swallowed part of her gum or something - but the dentist reassured us it’s totally normal.

It’s so hard not to overthink every twinge or weird feeling when you’re healing from something in your mouth. Everything feels magnified. But as long as there’s no sharp pain, swelling getting worse, or anything looking red and angry, it’s usually just part of the process. I probably drove our dentist nuts with all my questions, but better safe than sorry...

She thought something was wrong because she felt these little threads loosening up in her mouth, but apparently that’s just how they work.

Haha, yep, those dissolving stitches are sneaky. I remember thinking I was losing bits of my mouth at one point. Mouths are drama queens - every tiny thing feels huge. Glad it all turned out okay for her.

I totally get the panic over dissolving stitches. After my wisdom teeth came out, I was convinced something had gone wrong when I felt those threads coming loose. It’s like your tongue finds every weird thing in there and won’t let you forget about it. Did anyone else get freaked out by the taste or texture of them? Mine felt almost plasticky for a couple days, which made me even more nervous.

Yeah, I remember those stitches feeling super weird - like fishing line or something. My tongue wouldn’t leave them alone either. Honestly, I kept thinking they’d never dissolve and I’d be stuck with that plasticky taste forever... but it faded after a few days. Totally normal, just annoying.