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Please select the procedure you received to see a summary of post-op
instructions. Call us if you have any questions:
1- You may experience moderate pain and sensitivity to pressure on your
tooth. Also, you may feel gum soreness for few days after your treatment. The
healing process may take several days but the pain and discomfort should subside
gradually.
2- Take any medication that was prescribed for you according to instructions.
3- Usually a temporary filling has been placed on your tooth; do not bite on
the tooth for one hour and while you are numb. Also, until the permanent
restoration is placed, be very gentle with the tooth. Try to chew with the
opposite side.
4- Continue your brushing and flossing.
5- Follow up with the placement of your permanent restoration as you have
been advised. Any unnecessary delay in placement of final restoration may damage
the tooth permanently.
6- Call our office if you are in severe pain or experience swelling, or if
you have any questions.
1- Swelling, minor pain and/or skin discoloration may be experienced
following the surgical procedure. This will be temporary.
2- In order to keep the swelling to a minimum, use an ice pack for the first
few hours after surgery (on for 10 minutes and off for 5 minutes).
3- The day after the surgery, use lukewarm water rinses for the treated area
following each meal. This should continue for the first 3 days following the
surgical procedure.
4- Eat only soft foods. Avoid hard and chewy foods.
5- Get plenty of rest and insure normal intake of food, especially liquids
such as fruit juices, soup, and milk. Use a vitamin supplement if desired. Try
not to sleep on the operated area for 2-3 days.
6- DO NOT raise your lips with your fingers to inspect the treated area.
7- DO NOT brush teeth near the surgical site. Brush teeth in the rest of your
mouth.
8- There is often a temporary loss of feeling in the operated area and the
tooth may feel loose.
9- Take all medication that was prescribed for you according to instructions.
10- Should any difficulties occur, do not hesitate to call our office
anytime. In case of serious emergencies call 911.
You have just had surgery completed for the reduction of periodontal
pocketing and/or for replacement of bone in an area where pathology existed, or
in conjunction with endosseous dental implant surgical placement with or without
platelet addition to the bone graft. You will be advised of the particular
procedure and pertinent directions relative to your treatment modality. Whether
you were put to sleep for this procedure or were only given local anesthesia,
the post-operative instructions remain the same.
You will have several sutures (stitches) placed at the surgical site. These
sutures may or may not be resorbable. If you have been told that you received
external silk sutures, they have to be removed by us. The sutures will cause a
pulling of your tissue over the bone grafting site. Since the bone graft site
will have approximately 15 % more bone fill than what was naturally there, it is
imperative that you do not pull up your lips or cheeks to show or examine the
area. The undue pressure will cause the sutures to widen away from the surgical
site, expose bone, create more pain, and delay healing dramatically. This delay
can lead to the need for the area to be sutured again when you are seen for your
1 week post-surgical evaluation. The sutures will remain in place for 2 to 3
weeks depending on the size of the graft, the severity of the pathology, and the
condition of the tissue being sutured.
Your doctor will tell you what time period to expect, but keep in mind that
this is not etched in stone and the doctor may extend the time before your
sutures are removed to assure adequate healing and to avoid surgical regression.
You also may have a periodontal pack placed over the surgical site. The pack
is pink in color and impregnated with antibiotic, which will protect the
surgical site from infection and any washout of the particulate bone utilized to
restore your jaw. The pack should be left in place for as long as possible. If a
pack is placed the doctor will remove the packing at your 1 week follow up and
decide if the packing should be replaced or kept off. Usually the packing is
kept on for 7 to 10 days at a minimum. You must return to the office if your
pack falls off before you are seen for your 1 week follow up.
Your maintenance during healing has to be completed carefully. You can brush
in every area except where the periodontal pack is placed. It is imperative that
you use NO ASTRINGENTS such as mouth wash or antiseptic solutions during the
healing period of your bone graft. Listerine, Viadent, or any other potentially
caustic agent can RUIN your bone grafting procedure if contaminated, and require
a replacement bone graft. The doctor and our staff will reiterate this to you
at, during, and after your bone graft surgical procedure. After the first stages
of healing are satisfactory, we will provide you with normal saline and instruct
you on how to use it (with or without the addition of salt), as well as
irrigation syringes for cleaning the surgical site.
Since bone grows and heals slowly, it requires conditions conducive to a
proper environment and blood supply. Thus, it is imperative that immediately
after your bone graft you alter your diet, as you would for any oral surgical
procedure. This means that you should not eat anything that is too large, too
hot, or too sticky. Your food should be tepid or on the cool side. Any food that
is too hot will have a deleterious effect on your surgical procedure. Common
sense must be used in determining what should be done or avoided. If for some
reason you have questions about anything post-surgically, please call the office
and we will inform you of the proper action to take.
Smoking after any oral surgical procedure will ALWAYS delay or disrupt normal
healing due to a decrease in oxygenation of the tissue that is healing. Smoking
should therefore be stopped for the first 7 to 10 days to allow for adequate
initial tissue closure. Complete epithilization (closure) and wound healing
normally takes a minimum of 21 days from the day the surgery was completed under
ideal healing conditions, and with no other underlying systemic causes such as
Diabetes Melitus, etc.
Bone grafting is a very predictable surgical procedure when done correctly
and when patient cooperation is adhered to. Please try to be reasonable in
understanding that this procedure has inherent risks associated with it, as
stated in your informed consents. Some of these risks are also pertinent to your
post-operative care.
We want nothing more than a perfect outcome with the surgical procedures that
you are having done to rehabilitate your bone. This can only be attained with
your cooperation. Please feel free to communicate with us at any time to make
sure that the procedures you are having are properly maintained. No question is
ever perceived by our office as being silly or unreasonable. We would rather
have questions answered immediately than risk the chance that the procedure will
not go as planned, especially from omissions that are preventable.
As stated above and outlined in your informed consents, please remember that
there are some instances when no matter what is done, the outcome is not
perfect. There are even infrequent occasions when a surgery may have to be
redone; these situations are neither the doctor’s nor the patient’s fault.
Thank you!
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