I had 4 implants today. They were going to do 3 with 2 of them
bridging one in the middle, but they decided they needed 4 instead, so
they did the 4th. These were #18, 19, 20 and 29. In 2 weeks I get #2
and #4 bridging one in between.

Anyway, he told me some stuff to do and not to do after the surgery,
but I would like any further suggestions and also I have some
questions about these. Post surgery, I tried to ask questions but I
was pretty out of it and he was in a hurry to start his weekend as
well, so I thought of these questions later. I was in surgery for only
an hour and a half, but the suturing took a while, (and hurt like heck
because the anaesthetic was wearing off by then), and then they took a
bunch of photographic pictures before and after because it's a dental
school, I guess. All in all I was in the chair for about 2 and 1/2-3
hours, and my jaw hurt so bad from being open so long I could hardly
open it towards the end.

Okay, here's the do's and don't's:

** don't spit or rinse
How can I not spit or rinse when I have my mouth full of blood? Well,
maybe not full, but certainly bloody? How do I get rid of the yukky
blood in my mouth if I can't rinse?

**don't eat hot, spicy, or hard food. I understand not eating hard
food like chips or nuts, but why not hot or spicy? And is the hot and
spicy included to be avoided just for today and tomorrow, or for a
week or how long? And how long do I have to avoid hard foods like nuts
and seeds and spicy foods?

**Warm and cold liquids are okay, but not hot? why not hot, and for
how long do I avoid hot?

**Alcohol is bad. (Wish he'd told me that before he told me it was
okay to go on vacation from Sunday through Saturday this coming week!
He said I'd be okay to travel and go on vacation, but did NOT tell me
I could not drink!) I'm not a lush or alcoholic but frankly going on
vacation and not drinking at all is not my idea of a fun vacation! I
like to have 2,3,4 beers in the evening, at least, or a couple
margaritas. Just how bad is alcohol for my implants, and for how long
do I need to avoid it. He suggested it might be okay to drink a couple
beers after 2-3 days, but the other dentist who I talked to said no, I
shouldn't drink at all if I can avoid it. What do you guys recommend
to your patients re alchohol? Is there any type of alchohol that might
be better if I really want to have a drink? Would a kahlua and milk be
better, for example? Or cold white wine? or oj and vodka? or would
just beer be better?

sh.t, if I'd known I couldn't have a few beers on vacation, I would
not have agreed to schedule my surgery 3 days before going.