Instructions following gum disease treatment

Local Anaesthetic

The local anaesthetic will make you feel numb for a least a couple of hours. Beware not to eat or drink something hot as you will not be able to judge temperature and may scold yourself.

Don’t be tempted to chew or touch the numb area

Eating

You may eat and drink as normal but you may choose to eat food that is easier to chew. A liquid diet is unnecessary but eating crunchy foods may be uncomfortable and disrupt the surgical site. You must avoid hot food and drink for the first day.

Bleeding

A little bleeding is not uncommon and is of no concern. Sleep with a towel over your pillow on the day of surgery in case you dribble a little blood. Your saliva may be stained pink from the blood clot. Don’t be concerned by confusing this with actual bleeding. Profuse bleeding that gushes or fills your mouth is very unlikely and should be managed by tightly placing a tissue or the gauze provided and biting extremely hard on it for at least 20 minutes. Firm pressure almost always stops bleeding. If it doesn’t then you need to contact me.

Treatment site

Only brush the biting surface of your teeth at the treatment site for the next 2 days and do not use the interdental cleaning aids. After 2 days, start brushing the junction where the gum meets the teeth gently but don’t use the interdental cleaning aids yet. By 1 week, you can return to brushing as normal and use the interdental aids again.

Toothpaste

You can use your routine toothpaste in the morning, but for your evening brushing, for a period of THREE WEEKS only, use Chlorhexidine toothpaste on your toothbrush, Chlorhexidine gel on your interdental brushes, and Chlorhexidine mouthwash. Once you have finished brushing, do not eat or drink anything except water until you go to bed, and throughout the night.

Pain relief

Surgery on any area of the body may cause some discomfort afterwards in much the same way as you would expect after any other operation. It is therefore advisable to take painkillers before the numbness wears off. The jawbone would heal in a similar way to your leg or arm or any other part of your body after an operation. Don’t be surprised or concerned by this.

The discomfort should be managed by taking regular painkillers such as Paracetamol or Ibuprofen, if your medical history allows it. If you are taking any medication, please confirm with me that routine painkillers are appropriate for you to take.

Ibuprofen reduces swelling as well as treating discomfort. Although these medications can be taken together, it is advisable to take them at different times in order to for the effect to occur more frequently.

Stitches

You may have had stitches in your gum. They dissolve. This may take up to 3 weeks.

Sensitivity

Sometimes, the teeth may become a little sensitive after gum disease treatment. If this happens, rub some high fluoride toothpaste on the sensitive surfaces in the morning and do not wash it off. It normally gets better, but if not, I can treat it with a varnish to cover the exposed dentine that causes it.

Physical activity

This should be kept to a minimum for 2 days as it exacerbates bleeding.

Feedback

I welcome feedback suggestions at any time during your care.

Testimonials

Patients often wish to be filmed for a brief video recording to inform other patients of their experience. If you would like to volunteer for a quick interview, it would be greatly appreciated, so please do let me know at any time. Obviously, you are under no obligation whatsoever to do so. I do not use patients’ names when filming.

Questions

Please feel free to ask any questions at any stage.