Post-Operative Instruction After Oral Surgery
Here Are Some Guidelines To Help Promote Healing And Prevent Complications:
- While your mouth is numb, be careful not to bite your cheek, lip, or tongue.
- If your surgeon has left a gauze pack on the surgery site, leave it in for 30-45 minutes. Keep firm pressure on the site, but do not chew on the packing.
- If you have bleeding in the surgery site, then place gauze (or a regular tea bag) over the surgery site. Apply firm pressure for one hour, without talking/speaking/chewing. After a second attempt of repeating this, if the bleeding hasn’t stopped, please contact the office immediately.
- Starting the day after surgery, you can either use salt water rinses. Rinse three times a day, after every meal. Do not use any other mouthwash (unless prescribed).
- After the procedure, drink lots of fluids and keep hydrated, especially if you had fastedyou’re your surgery. Eat soft nutritional foods such as eggs, potatoes, yogurts, protein/supplemental shakes. Avoid alcoholic and carbonated beverages. Advance your diet back to normal after a week, as you can tolerate it, unless your surgeon wants to keep you on a different diet regimen. Regardless, avoid hard foods and candies for at least 6 weeks after your procedure.
- If a bone graft, implant, or healing cap was placed, then remain on a soft no-chew diet for six weeks. Do not chew on the surgery site, as chewing can cause loosening of the bone, implant, and/or healing cap and cause the surgery to fail.
- Avoid any foods or drinks that are too hot or too cold in the next 72 hours.
- Apply ice for 20 minutes at a time (NOT continuous) to the area of the face/cheek, where the procedure was performed. 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. This could help reduce swelling. A “bag of frozen peas” can work very well as an ice pack. Ice should be placed for up to 72 hours after surgery. Then, switch to warm-moist heat.
- No smoking or drinking through a straw.
- Keep your head elevated and do not sleep flat for the next week.
- Refrain from aggressive/strenuous physical activity for the next week.
- Do not brush or manipulate the tissues around surgery sites.Do keep good oral hygiene by brushing and flossing. Use a Q-tip to gently clean the surgery site, if necessary.
- If stitches/sutures were placed, they are most likely resorbable and will fall out on their own in a week or so; unless, you were told otherwise.
- Take medication, as prescribed. Refer to the medicine bottle for correct dosage. If the pain medication is not working, do not double/increase the dosage.
Instead, contact the office. If you were prescribed antibiotics, take them until you finish. If you develop diarrhea, let your oral surgeon know immediately.