Instructions following Oral Surgery 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.

Surgical site

The surgical site immediately forms a blood clot, which is the first phase of healing. It is important you do not dislodge this blood clot so that the healing is not disturbed. Therefore, do not rinse your mouth out or touch the area for the rest of the day in order to leave the blood clot in place. Brush your teeth as normal but avoid the surgical area and you may choose to dribble the water rather than spit it out.

Keeping the area clean

From the day after surgery, the blood clot should be more secure so you should keep the area clean by rinsing gently with either lukewarm salty water or any mouthwash of your choice. The advised time to do this is after you eat any food in order to wash the debris from the area. I may advise you to use a specific mouthwash but this is not normally necessary.

Stitches

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

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 should contact me.

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 for the effect to occur more frequently.

Physical activity

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

Smoking

Smoking delays healing and if this occurs, it is more likely that you get an infection called a “dry socket”. Infection and poor healing can be very painful so try your best not to smoke until the healing is complete in an attempt to prevent this.

Teeth replacement

Teeth that are removed may not necessarily need replacing. You may find that you quickly adapt with the way you chew and look. If however you are interested in replacing lost teeth, your dentist may discuss the options with you, which may include dentures, bridges, or implants.

Dental implants are titanium-based rods that are placed in your jawbone, upon which a tooth looking crown is attached, in order to have a fixed option to replace your lost tooth. Oral surgeons are experts in this field of dentistry, so if dental implants interest you, please let me know, and I would be happy to liaise with your dentist and assess if this form of treatment is appropriate for you.

Feedback and Testimonials

I welcome feedback suggestions at any time during your care. 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.