You may not have anything to eat or drink (including water) for eight (8) hours prior to the appointment.
• No smoking at least 12 hours before surgery. Ideally, cut down or stop smoking as soon as possible prior to the day of surgery.
• A responsible adult must accompany the patient to the office, remain in the office during the procedure, and drive the patient home.
• The patient should not drive a vehicle or operate any machinery for 24 hours following the anesthesia experience.
• Please wear loose fitting clothing with sleeves which can be rolled up past the elbow, and low-heeled shoes.
• Contact lenses, jewelry, and dentures must be removed at the time of surgery.
• Do not wear lipstick, excessive makeup, or nail polish on the day of surgery.
• If you have an illness such as a cold, sore throat, stomach or bowel upset, please notify the office.
• If you take routine oral medications, please check with the office prior to your surgical date for instructions.
Do not disturb the wound. Avoid rinsing, spitting, or touching the wound on the day of surgery. There will usually be a metal healing abutment protruding through the gingival (gum) tissue.
Bleeding
Some bleeding or redness in the saliva is normal for 24 hours. Excessive bleeding (your mouth fills up rapidly with blood) can be controlled by biting on a gauze pad placed directly on the bleeding wound for 30 minutes. If bleeding continues please call for further instructions.
Swelling
Swelling is a normal occurrence after surgery. To minimize swelling, apply an ice bag, or a plastic bag, or towel filled with ice on the cheek in the area of surgery. Apply the ice continuously, as much as possible, for the first 36 hours.
Diet
Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid hot liquids or food. Soft food and liquids should be taken on the day of surgery. Return to a normal diet as soon as possible unless otherwise directed.
Pain
You should begin taking pain medication as soon as you feel the local anesthetic wearing off. For moderate pain, 1 or 2 Tylenol or Extra Strength Tylenol may be taken every 3-4 hours, or as directed. Ibuprofen, bought over the counter comes in 200 mg tablets: 2-3 tablets may be taken every 3-4 hours as needed for pain, or as directed. For severe pain, the prescribed medication should be taken as directed. Make sure to take prescription pain medication with food to avoid nausea. Do not take any of the above medication if you are allergic, or have been instructed by your doctor not to take it.
Antibiotics
Be sure to take any prescribed antibiotics as directed to help prevent infection.
Oral Hygiene
Good oral hygiene is essential to good healing. The day after surgery, if Peridex is prescribed, it should be used twice daily, after breakfast and before bed. Be sure to rinse for at least 30 seconds then spit it out. Warm salt water rinses (teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water) should be used at least 4-5 times a day, as well, especially after meals. Brushing your teeth and the healing abutments is no problem. Be gentle initially with brushing the surgical areas.
Activity
Keep physical activities to a minimum immediately following surgery. If you are considering exercise, throbbing or bleeding may occur. If this occurs, you should discontinue exercising. Keep in mind that you are probably not taking normal nourishment. This may weaken you and further limit your ability to exercise.
Wearing your Prothesis
Partial dentures, flippers, or full dentures may be adjusted and worn the day of surgery in some cases but not up to two weeks post operatively in others. Your individual case was discussed in the pre-operative consultation.
Do not disturb the wound. Avoid rinsing, spitting, or touching the wound on the day of surgery. There will usually be a metal healing abutment protruding through the gingival (gum) tissue.
Bleeding
Some bleeding or redness in the saliva is normal for 24 hours. Excessive bleeding (your mouth fills up rapidly with blood) can be controlled by biting on a gauze pad placed directly on the bleeding wound for 30 minutes. If bleeding continues please call for further instructions.
Swelling
Swelling is a normal occurrence after surgery. To minimize swelling, apply an ice bag, or a plastic bag, or towel filled with ice on the cheek in the area of surgery. Apply the ice continuously, as much as possible, for the first 36 hours.
Diet
Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid hot liquids or food. Soft food and liquids should be taken on the day of surgery. Return to a normal diet as soon as possible unless otherwise directed.
Pain
You should begin taking pain medication as soon as you feel the local anesthetic wearing off. For moderate pain, 1 or 2 Tylenol or Extra Strength Tylenol may be taken every 3-4 hours, or as directed. Ibuprofen, bought over the counter comes in 200 mg tablets: 2-3 tablets may be taken every 3-4 hours as needed for pain, or as directed. For severe pain, the prescribed medication should be taken as directed. Do not take any of the above medication if you are allergic, or have been instructed by your doctor not to take it.
Antibiotics
Be sure to take any prescribed antibiotics as directed to help prevent infection.
Oral Hygiene
Good oral hygiene is essential to good healing. The day after surgery, if Peridex is prescribed, it should be used twice daily, after breakfast and before bed. Be sure to rinse for at least 30 seconds then spit it out. Warm salt water rinses (teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water) should be used at least 4-5 times a day, as well, especially after meals. Brushing your teeth and the healing abutments is no problem. Be gentle initially with brushing the surgical areas.
Activity
Keep physical activities to a minimum immediately following surgery. If you are considering exercise, throbbing or bleeding may occur. If this occurs, you should discontinue exercising. Keep in mind that you are probably not taking normal nourishment. This may weaken you and further limit your ability to exercise.
Wearing your Prosthesis
Partial dentures, flippers, or full dentures may be adjusted and worn the day of surgery in some cases but not up to two weeks postoperatively in others. Your individual case was discussed in the pre-operative consultation.
Do not disturb the wound. If surgical packing was placed, leave it alone. The pack helps to keep the tooth exposed. If it gets dislodged or falls out do not get alarmed.
Bleeding
Some bleeding or redness in the saliva is normal for 24 hours. Excessive bleeding which results in your mouth filling rapidly with blood can frequently be controlled by biting with pressure on a gauze pad placed directly on the bleeding wound for 30 minutes. If bleeding continues please call our office for further instructions.
Swelling
Swelling is a normal occurrence after surgery. To minimize swelling, apply an ice bag or a plastic bag or towel filled with ice cubes on the cheek in the area of surgery. Apply the ice continuously as much as possible for the first 36 hours.
Pain
You should begin taking pain medication before as you feel the local anesthetic wearing off. If you were given a prescription for Motrin (ibuprofen), use it as directed on a regular schedule starting as soon as you are taking oral nutrition. For more severe pain, and you have if you have no medical contraindication or allergy, you may alternate Tylenol (acetaminophen) with the ibuprofen as directed, (take the ibuprofen, then the acetaminophen two hours later and so on). If you were given another prescription pain medication, take the tablets prescribed as directed.
Diet
Drink plenty of fluids. Do not use straws. Drink from a glass. The sucking motion can cause more bleeding. You may eat anything soft but try to avoid chewing directly over the surgical sites. Avoid hot liquids or food. Soft food and liquids should be eaten on the day of surgery. Return to a normal diet as soon as possible unless otherwise directed.
Oral Hygiene
Mouth cleanliness is essential to good healing. Clean your mouth thoroughly after each meal beginning the day after surgery.You can brush your teeth the night of surgery but do not rinse with any force. Gently place the water in your mouth and let it swirl around and drip out into the sink. Rinse with warm salt water (1/2 teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water) six times a day. Continue this procedure until healing is complete.
REMEMBER: A clean wound heals better and faster.
Activity
Keep physical activities to a minimum immediately following surgery. If you are considering exercise, throbbing or bleeding may occur. If this occurs, you should discontinue exercising. Be aware that your normal nourishment intake is reduced. Exercise may weaken you. If you get light headed, stop exercising.
After tooth extraction, its important for a blood clot to form to stop the bleeding and begin the healing process. Thats why we ask you to bite on a gauze pad for 30-45 minutes after the appointment. If the bleeding or oozing still persists, place another gauze pad and bite firmly for another 30 minutes. You may have to do this several times.
After the blood clot forms, it is important not to disturb or dislodge the clot as it aids healing. Do not rinse vigorously, suck on straws, smoke, drink alcohol or brush teeth next to the extraction site for 24 hours. These activities will dislodge or dissolve the clot and retard the healing process. Limit vigorous exercise for the next 24 hours as this will increase blood pressure and may cause more bleeding from the extraction site.
Pain & Swelling
After the tooth is extracted you may feel some pain and experience some swelling. An ice pack or an unopened bag of frozen peas or corn applied to the area will keep swelling to a minimum.
Take pain medications as prescribed. Call the office if the medication doesn’t seem to be working. If antibiotics are prescribed, continue to take them for the indicated length of time, even if signs and symptoms of infection are gone. Drink lots of fluid and eat nutritious soft food on the day of the extraction. You can eat normally as soon as you are comfortable.
Oral Hygiene
It is important to resume your normal dental routine after 24 hours. This should include brushing and flossing your teeth at least once a day. This will speed healing and help keep your mouth fresh and clean.
Activity
After a few days you will feel fine and can resume your normal activities. If you have heavy bleeding, severe pain, continued swelling for 2-3 days, or a reaction to the medication, call our office immediately.
Swelling
Apply moist hot packs to outside of face 20 minutes every 2 hours. This may be done by wetting 2 wash cloths and warming them in the microwave 30 seconds. Apply moist heat as directed for 1-2 weeks or until swelling is gone.
Diet
Make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses of fluid daily. Since you are on a liquid diet, you do need to be taking in nourishment every 2 hours throughout your day. Nourishments: smoothies, ice cream, yogurt, pudding, Ensure or Boost drinks.
Pain
Please take 600mg of Ibuprofen every 4 hours. Advil or Motrin may be used in place of Ibuprofen. If a narcotic pain medication was issued, you are to take that as directed also, along with the Ibuprofen, altering them every 2 hours. Ibuprofen is to be continued to 7-14 days until swelling has subsided.
Oral Hygiene
Please continue with your chlorohexidine rinses for 14 days. In between, please rinse with saline (1/2 tsp. salt to 8 oz. warm water) 4-5 times daily.