After Surgery Care 

At Florida Center for Oral Surgery and Dental implants, your care, especially your care after the procedure, is very important to us. We will provide you instruction for care, both written and verbally. Just in case you have questions, here are some do’s and don’ts.

After Your Procedure Care.

Things to expect.

• Swelling—Ice, ice, and more ice for the first 24 to 48 hours. Apply ice to the face (outside of the mouth) to the affected areas. This will help decrease the amount of swelling. Often, the use of frozen vegetables, like peas, or corn work well because they will contour to your face.
• Bleeding—Expect minor bleeding or oozing (blood mixed with saliva) from the surgical site for the first 24 – 48 hours. Apply moist gauze to the area, if possible, for the first 20 minutes (TIME YOURSELF!!), and repeat as necessary. Do not place dry gauze, or keep removing the gauze without keeping track of the time. This is to prevent a DRY SOCKET, which is very painful.
• Discomfort—Start your pain medication immediately after the procedure, and continue them for the first 72 hours. Most likely, the local anesthetic will last up to four hours, don’t wait for pain to start. Take the medication before the numbness wears off!!
• Healing time—Usually between seven to ten days, depending on what procedure was done. Allow this time for healing.

*******NO SMOKING!!!! ( During the healing period).********

Be careful with your diet:

• Avoid eating hard, sticky, or crunchy foods to reduce the chances of traumatizing extraction sites, or damaging your restoration and implants.
• Foods with small particles should also be avoided because they will become stuck at the surgical sites.
• If immediate dentures or restorations are placed, sticky foods can get trapped and stick to dentures and teeth. This can cause tooth decay, discomfort, and discoloration. Try to avoid chewy types of food like caramel and hard foods like nuts, which can loosen your restorations or dentures and/or cause them to break.
• Choose soft food options like eggs, mashed potatoes, soups or a blended smoothie that's easier on your surgical sites.
• Cut your food in small pieces. Remember: there is an adjustment period in getting used to chewing with your restorations, or dentures. Cutting your food into smaller pieces, will help you to chew better, and help with digestion.
• Add gravies or a small pat of butter to soften up some foods for chewing. Also, chew on both sides of your mouth to avoid dislodging your restorations, or dentures while eating.

***Dentures are made of acrylic, which is a highly rigid plastic; they can and will break no matter who makes them when heavy stresses are applied.***

Drink plenty of water—Stay hydrated

• A dry mouth may cause irritations of the mouth and gums and increase chances of bacterial decay. With dentures you may experience dry mouth on occasion.
• It is important to stay hydrated so your body can replenish fluids like saliva.
• Also check with your physician if you are taking any medications that may contribute to dry mouth.

Follow good hygiene habits.

• It’s important to clean the area around your surgical sites, restorations, dentures and the mouth every day.
• Remember to brush your gums, mouth, cheeks, and tongue with a soft-bristled brush and toothpaste each morning; this will help remove plaque and bacteria that could contribute to gum irritation, infection, bad breath, and implant failure.
• Like regular teeth, dentures can get stained and develop tartar and bacteria. To help keep your prosthetic whites clean, first rinse them to remove food particles. Then brush gently with a dampened soft-bristled brush or denture brush using a mild hand soap or dishwashing detergent and warm water. We encourage you to avoid bleaching agents and toothpastes, which can damage your dentures.

If you have a sinus procedure performed.

• No nose blowing.
• No drinking through a straw.
• Use antihistamines like Claritin, or Benadryl for at least two weeks as directed.
• Use decongestants like afrin in each nostril every 12 hours, no longer than five consecutive days in a row.
• Try not to sneeze for at least two weeks. If you sneeze, don’t hold your nose, sneeze out of your mouth.
• Take other medications as directed.

NO SMOKING!! (During the healing period)

If you have dentures, soak them daily (unless they have a liner inside).

• After you brush, soak your dentures daily with a nonabrasive denture cleanser to remove food, plaque, and bacteria.
• Soaking dentures in a cleaning solution can also help kill germs that cause bad breath. Check with the manufacturer's suggestion on how long you should soak your dentures.
• Never use denture cleansers inside your mouth and be sure to rinse dentures thoroughly before putting them back into your mouth.
• Never soak dentures that have a soft liner on the inside. Soaking a denture with a soft liner will cause the liner to become hard and rigid.

Dry Socket

• An extremely painful condition resulting from the dislodgement or dissolution of the blood clot or scab, formed after the removal of teeth.
• Usually occurs after the third day following extraction of teeth.
• Smoking increases the chance of getting a dry socket.
• Follow the post-op instructions closely to try to prevent a dry socket.

Emergency Care.

If you have a dental-related emergency, contact the office at 954-838-0621. An emergency may include:

• If active bleeding continues after 3-4 hours of applied pressure to your surgical site.
• If you are unable to maintain a nutritious diet after 48 hours
• If numbness persists after your initial day of surgery
• If pain or swelling increases after the third day
• If bleeding has not decreased after two days
• If an implant becomes loose
• If an implant fractures
• If you have any symptoms which may indicate a reaction or allergy to medications, such as: skin rash
  • hives
  • elevated temperature
  • increased and/or erratic heart rate
  • nausea/vomiting
  • dizziness/faint
  • blurred vision
• If you become febrile, and you temperature exceeds 100.5° F
• If you have difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
• If you have difficulty swallowing.

***If you are experiencing other non-dental health emergencies, please call 911.**