If you’ve recently had dental surgery, you could be looking at some recovery time at home. Here are some dos and don’ts to help get you get through your recuperation post-surgery as smoothly as possible.
DO
- Ice your mouth and face. This will decrease swelling and bruising, and greatly minimize your discomfort.
- Eat soft foods like mashed potatoes, yogurt, and smoothies. The softer the food, the less likely it will aggravate your mouth.
- Take your medication as prescribed by your doctor. Always take the full course of medication that a doctor prescribes—if you stop taking the medication too soon, your recovery will take longer.
- Take over-the-counter pain medication like Advil and Tylenol to decrease your discomfort.
- Rest. If you’re at all able to take a few days off work, do. The more you rest your body, the faster you will heal.
- Rinse with saltwater to clean and soothe your mouth. Stir one teaspoon saltwater into a cup of warm water. You can rinse your mouth like this up to four times a day.
- Once you can eat normal food again, keep a healthy diet to help with your recovery and stave off infection.
DON’T
- Don’t exhaust yourself by trying to do too much during recovery. Your health is the most important thing.
- Don’t eat or drink anything that’s too hot to avoid irritating your mouth. Keep to soft, room temperature or cold food and drink.
- Don’t eat crunchy or sticky foods that could get stuck in your surgery site.
- Don’t brush or floss your teeth until your dentist tells you you can. (This is the only time you’ll have a good excuse not to floss, probably ever!)
- Don’t smoke, as smoking can dislodge blood clots and hurt the healing process. If you do smoke regularly, this can be the excuse you need to quit.
If the pain is not going away, or you experience a fever or excessive bleeding, you should call your dentist immediately. Have any questions about recovering after oral surgery? Contact the Green Tree Dental team today!
