Post-operative care reduces discomfort and accelerates the healing process. Pain, infection, and swelling can be minimized if the instructions are followed.
Quick tips:
– No spitting or sucking through a straw.
– Low activity level for the next 48 hours.
– Rinse with warm salt water after 24 hours.
– No smoking for 48 hours.
– Start taking pain medication (600mg ibuprofen or Arnica unless otherwise recommended) before the anesthetic has worn off.
Bleeding
Some bleeding, oozing, or redness in the saliva is common after surgery. Excessive bleeding may be controlled by first rinsing or wiping any old clots from your mouth, then placing a gauze pad over the area and biting firmly for twenty minutes. Repeat if necessary.
Avoid spitting, sucking through a straw, and any other similar action for 2-3 days to let the blood clot form. This helps the area heal. When rinsing your mouth or brushing your teeth, make sure water falls out of your mouth instead of forcefully spitting it out.
If bleeding continues, bite on a moistened, squeeze dried Lipton tea bag for fifteen minutes, repeat as necessary. The tannic acid in the tea bag helps to form a clot by contracting bleeding vessels. To minimize further bleeding, sit upright and avoid exercise. If bleeding does not subside, call your dentist for further instructions.
For a homeopathic remedy, you may try using 30x Phosphorus every 4-6 hours.
Swelling
Swelling around the mouth, cheeks, eyes, and sides of the face is common after surgery. The swelling will start the day following surgery and will not reach its maximum until 2-3 days later. You can reduce swelling by applying ice packs to the side of the face where surgery was performed. The ice packs should be left on while you are awake with a 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off cycle.
After 24 hours, ice has no beneficial effect. Thirty-six hours following surgery, switch from applying cold to applying moist heat to the sides of the face to reduce swelling if necessary.
Pain
For moderate pain choose from the following pain medication options:
Motrin/Advil/Ibuprofen 600mg every 4-6 hours or
Aleve (Naproxen Sodium) 550mg every 8-12 hours.
Tylenol 500mg, every 4-6 hours
If the pain is very intense, you can take 600mg Ibuprofen, and 3 hours later take 500mg of Tylenol. Keep alternating every 3 hours until pain subsides.
For a homeopathic remedy use one of each every 15-30 minutes:
– 30x Hypericum Perforatum
– 30x Arnica Montana
– 30x Ruta Graveolens
For severe pain, take the pain medicine prescribed as directed. Pain medicine may make you groggy and can slow down your reflexes, so avoid alcohol and do not drive a car or operate machinery. Pain or discomfort following surgery should subside over time. If pain persists or grows in intensity after a few days, call our office.
Diet
Your diet should be soft for at least the first 48 hours after surgery. Chew on the side opposite the surgical site. High calorie and protein intake is very important. Avoid foods such as seeds, chips, and popcorn kernels that can get lodged in the extraction site, causing an infection. Drink plenty of fluids. Smoothies, juices and meal replacement shakes are good ideas.
Keep the mouth clean
You can brush your teeth the night of surgery but rinse gently and allow the fluid to fall from your mouth instead of spitting. 24 hours after surgery, begin rinsing 5-6 times a day, after eating, with a cup of warm water mixed with a teaspoon of salt. Don’t vigorously rinse or spit out. Let the water fall out of your mouth gently.
Discoloration/bruising
In some cases, your skin may become discolored. This is normal and may occur 2-3 days after your procedure. Moist heat applied to the area may speed healing.
Antibiotics
If you have been prescribed antibiotics, take them as directed. Take the entire dose of antibiotics, even if all symptoms disappear. Discontinue antibiotic use in the event of a rash or allergic reaction and inform your doctor.
Sutures
If stitches have been placed in the area of surgery, try not to touch or play with them. If they start to irritate, call the office. If they are dissolvable, they will dissolve on their own in 5-14 days. Otherwise, you will need to come back in 10-14 days to have them removed.
Other Issues
If numbness of the lip, chin, or tongue occurs there is no cause for alarm because it’s usually temporary. Be careful because if your lip or tongue is numb, you could accidently bite it.
Slightly elevated temperature immediately after surgery is common. If the fever persists, notify the office and take Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
Occasionally, patients may feel hard projections in the mouth with their tongue. These are the bony walls, call bone spurs that supported the tooth. These projections cane smoothen out on their own or may need to be removed.
If the corners of your mouth are stretched, dried, or cracked, your lips should be kept moistened with lip balm or Vaseline.
Sore throats and pain when swallowing are common. This will subside in 2-3 days.
Stiffness (trismus) of the jaw muscles may cause difficulty in opening your mouth for a few days following surgery. This should go away with time.
A dry socket is when the blood clot dissolves prematurely from the tooth socket. Symptoms of pain at the surgical site and ear pain may occur 2-3 days following surgery. Pain should not increase with time. If it does, call the office.
Other information
Every case is unique. If you have a particular problem please contact our Lakeview, Chicago office so we can help. We will try to help you in the most natural, holistic, biological, biocompatible and organic way as possible.