Oral Surgery Post-Operative instructions

In the first few days after having regular tooth removal, wisdom tooth removal, dental implant surgery, or other types of oral surgery, it is important to follow your dentist’s oral surgery post-operative instructions to ensure that healing is uneventful and quick as possible. If you have any questions about oral surgery home care, please contact us.

If you have not had your oral surgery appointment yet, please read our pre-visit instructions.

Bleeding management

• The dentist may have given you gauze squares on which to bite down. If you are biting on gauze, keep applying pressure onto the surgical area to stop bleeding and to encourage a blood clot to form. You can discard the gauze after 30 minutes. Most of the bleeding should stop by the time you leave the dental office.
• Slight bleeding can be expected for the first and second day following surgery. If you see a small amount of blood in your saliva, do not worry. You can swallow your saliva; you will not get sick.
• If bleeding becomes heavy, take 2 pieces of extra gauze, fold it into a little square, wet it with water and bite down for 30 minutes; this should stop the bleeding. Alternatively, try biting on a pre-moistened tea bag. Tea has a compound called tannic acid that acts as a natural hemostatic agent (causes blood to clot).
• If bleeding does not stop after a few days, or continues to be heavy, give your dentist in Toronto a call. If the dentist cannot be reached, visit your local hospital emergency room.

Sutures

• If the dentist placed dissolvable sutures, they will fall apart on their own after 1-2 weeks; no further action is required. If the sutures are non-dissolving, you will have to return to have them removed. 

Avoid agitating the healing area

• The goal is to keep the blood clot in the socket for healing, preventing bleeding and preventing a condition known as Dry Socket.
• Avoid forceful movements in the mouth, such as sucking through a straw, vigorous rinsing, and forceful spitting, for at least 24 hours.
• If you have to expel liquids from your mouth, allow the liquid to drool out of your mouth over a sink only.
• Dry socket is a painful condition where the blood clot in the socket is lost, exposing the small nerve endings in the socket to open air. Moreover, it will take longer for the socket to heal.

Swelling management

• Swelling may occur over the course of 48 hours after the extraction and is a normal part of healing. The amount of swelling will depend on how difficult the tooth removal was. The more difficult the tooth extraction, the more swelling can be expected.
• To minimize swelling, place an ice bag wrapped or bag of frozen peas (wrapped in a towel) over the cheek, on and off for a few minutes at a time.

Pain management

• It is normal to feel pain immediately after oral surgery.
• You are also welcome to use over the counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol). Ask your dentist what dosage is right for you, but if you do not have a pre-existing medical condition of allergies, 1000mg acetaminophen (Tylenol) with 600mg ibuprofen (Advil) every 4-6 hours or as needed is a very powerful combination.

Difficult Jaw Opening

• Local anesthetic injections by their very nature cause injury to the muscles of the jaw, and can result in temporary difficulty opening your jaws wide, pain, and muscle spasm of the affected side. This is a condition called “myogenic trismus secondary to dental local anesthetic injection“. Follow this link to learn more about how to manage myogenic trismus at home. 

Preventing Infection

• Your dentist may not always prescribe antibiotics following oral surgery if you are healthy and the tooth is not infected. Just follow the post operative instructions given to you to ensure that the area stays as clean as possible.
• If your dentist prescribed antibiotics for you, take them as prescribed until finished. If you start feeling worse after the third day following surgery, or if you start having a difficult time swallowing or breathing, contact your dentist or seek help at your local hospital emergency room.
• Your dentist will typically arrange for a follow up visit in a week. If the dentist sees signs of infection, antibiotics will be prescribed then.

Keeping the Area Clean

• No brushing, flossing, or rinsing your mouth for the next 24 hours.
• After 24 hours, you may start gently rinsing the healing socket with warm salt water. If your dentist provided you with a plastic syringe, fill it with salt water and gently rinse the healing socket after every meal.
• After 24 hours, you may also start brushing and flossing your other teeth like normal, except no toothpaste.
• You can re-introduce toothpaste after 48 hours. We do not want toothpaste particles getting trapped in the healing socket.

Avoid Smoking and Alcohol

• Smoking tobacco products and drinking alcohol will prevent healing and increase the chances of infection or dry socket. Therefore, avoid all smoking and alcohol for at least two weeks.

Avoid Vigorous Exercise

• Too much physical activity may cause you pain and cause the extraction socket to bleed. Normal activity can resume after a few days. If the healing socket starts to spontaneously bleed from exercise, this is a sign to lower the intensity.

Dietary Instructions

• Avoid eating on the area of the oral surgery.
• Soft diet, e.g. scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, smoothies, yoghurt, soft rice, porridge.
• Nothing too hot or cold for the first 48 hours.
• Drink lots of water to stay hydrated.
• Avoid spicy and acidic foods that can irritate the healing socket.
• Avoid small nuts and seeds that can get trapped in the healing socket.

Have Questions?

• If you have any additional questions or concerns about recovery after oral surgery, please contact us.