Surgical Instructions
Downloadable forms with further information about our surgical instructions are also available at the bottom of the page. You can either view them on your monitor or print them out.
PRE-OPERATIVE INSTRUCTIONS (Patients Under Going Anesthesia):
1. DO NOT eat food or drink liquids (including water) for at least eight (8) hours prior to your appointment.
**Patients who take daily medication (such as blood pressure, heart, or diabetes medicine, or antibiotics) should take their medicines as scheduled (swallow with a minimal amount of water) unless told otherwise by the surgeon or their medical doctor.**
2. Please bring the name and dosage of any medicines you are currently taking.
3. Have a responsible person accompany you to drive you home. Minors must be accompanied by a parent. We cannot allow patients to leave by TAXI or other transportation without an escort.
4. Do not drink any alcoholic beverages for 24 hours before your surgery.
5. Please discontinue the use of tobacco for as long as possible prior to your appointment. Smoking may delay healing, will create increased discomfort following surgery, and increase the risk of infection.
6. Wear short-sleeved, comfortable clothing. Please remove any oral and facial rings, posts, or other facial jewelry before your appointment. (Non-dangling earrings are acceptable.)
7. Contact lenses, nail polish, false eyelashes, and heavy make-up should not be worn to your appointment.
8. It is a good idea to have a few ice compresses made for when you arrive home.
9. You should have soft, bland food ready at home for the first day.
10. Someone should be available to be with you for 12 to 24 hours after you arrive home.
11. If there is a change in your health in the few days before surgery, such as fever, chest cold, flu or persistent cough, please notify this office immediately.
12. If you have insurance, please bring the insurance cards or information with you!
POST-OPERATIVE INSTRUCTIONS (Please Read and Follow These Instructions Carefully)
The after-effects of oral surgery vary per individual, so not all of these instructions may apply. Please feel free to call our office any time should you have any questions, or are experiencing any unusual symptoms following your treatment.
DAY OF SURGERY:
IMMEDIATELY AFTER SURGERY: Patients who received a general anesthetic should return home from the office immediately upon discharge, and lie down with the head elevated until all the effects of the anesthetic have disappeared. Anesthetic effects vary by individual, and you may feel drowsy for a short period of time or for several hours. You should not operate any mechanical equipment or drive a motor vehicle for at least 12 hours or longer if you feel any residual effect from the anesthetic.
ORAL CARE and HYGIENE: DO NOT DRINK with a straw and DO NOT RINSE or brush your teeth or probe the area with the tongue, any objects or your fingers. DO NOT SMOKE for at least 48 hours, since it is detrimental to the healing process.
You may start normal tooth brushing the day after the surgery or after bleeding is controlled. Start rinsing your mouth with a warm saltwater rinse (1/2 tsp. salt with 1 cup water) every 2-3 hours. Continue this for several days, then rinse 3-4 times a day for the next 2 weeks. It is imperative to keep your mouth clean, since an accumulation of food or debris may promote infection.
BLEEDING: Do not disturb the surgical area today. Bite down gently but firmly on the gauze pack that we have initially placed over the surgical area, making sure that they remain in place. The gauze may be changed when necessary and/or repositioned for comfort. This is important to allow blood clot formation on the surgery site. This may be controlled by placing fresh gauze over the surgical area and biting down firmly for 30-60 minutes. Some bleeding is normal, and blood-tinged saliva may be present for 24 hours. Do not eat or go to sleep with gauze in your mouth.
STEADY BLEEDING: Bleeding should not be severe. If bleeding persists, this may due to the gauze pads being clenched between the teeth rather than exerting pressure on the surgery site. Try repositioning the gauze. If bleeding persists or becomes heavy, substitute a moist tea bag (first moistened in water, squeezed dry and wrapped in a moist gauze) on the area for 20-30 minutes. If bleeding continues, please call our office.
SWELLING OR BRUISING: Swelling is to be expected, and usually reaches its maximum in 48 hours. To minimize swelling, cold packs or ice bag wrapped in a towel should be applied to the face adjacent to the surgical area. This should be applied 20 minutes on then removed for 20 minutes during the first 12-24 hours after surgery. If you were prescribed medicine for the control of swelling, be sure to take it as directed. After 24 hours, it is usually best to switch from using the cold pack to applying moist heat or heating pad to the same area, until swelling has receded. Bruising may also occur, but should disappear soon. Tightness of the jaw muscles may cause difficulty in opening the mouth. This should disappear within 7 days. Keep lips moist with cream or Vaseline to prevent cracking or chapping.
DIET: Eat any nourishing food that can be taken with comfort. It is advisable to confine the first day’s food intake to bland liquids or pureed or soft foods. Avoid foods like nuts, sunflower seeds or popcorn, which may get lodged in the socket areas. Over the next several days, you may progress to more solid foods. Proper nourishment aids in the healing process. If you are a diabetic, maintain your normal diet as much as possible and follow your physician’s instructions regarding your insulin schedule.
PAIN AND MEDICATIONS: Unfortunately, most oral surgery is accompanied by some degree of discomfort. Take the pain medication prescribed as directed. The local anesthetic administered with the general anesthetic during your surgery normally has a 3-hour duration, and it may be difficult to control the pain once the anesthetic wears off. We therefore, advise you to take the pain medication 2 hours immediately after your surgery. If you do not achieve adequate pain relief, you may supplement each pill with an analgesic such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen. Taking the pain medication with soft food and a large volume of water will lessen any side effects of nausea or stomach upset.
If you were prescribed an antibiotic and are currently taking oral contraceptives, you should use an alternate method of birth control for the remainder of this cycle.
ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCES: If you wear orthodontic appliances, replace them immediately after surgery unless otherwise instructed. If these appliances are left out of the mouth for any length of time, it is often difficult or impossible to reinsert them.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FOLLOWING DAYS:
ORAL HYGIENE: Keeping your mouth clean after oral surgery is essential. Begin your normal tooth brushing routine the day after surgery. Soreness and swelling may prevent rigorous brushing of all areas, but make every effort to clean your teeth within your comfort level. Keep using warm saltwater rinses to rinse your mouth at least 3-4 times daily for the next five days.
CARE OF SURGICAL AREA: Apply warm compresses to the skin overlying areas of swelling for 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off to help soothe these tender areas. This will also aid in reducing swelling and stiffness.
OTHER POSSIBLE POST-SURGERY EFFECTS
DRY SOCKETS: The blood clot on the surgical site may be lost causing a dry socket (usually on the 3rd to 5th day). There will be a noticeable, distinct, persistent pain in the jaw area, often radiating toward the ear and forward along the jaw which may cause other teeth to ache. If you do not see steady improvement during the first few days after surgery or if severe pain persists, please call the office to report these symptoms.
SKIN DISCOLORATION: This may be expected, and is usually limited to the neck or cheek area near the surgical site. This is caused by bleeding through the mucous membranes of the mouth beneath the skin and appears as a bruise. If discoloration occurs, it often takes a week for this to completely disappear. Occasionally, the arm or hand near the site where the needle was placed to administer IVdrugs may remain inflamed and tender. This is caused by chemical irritation in the vein. Aspirin and application of heat on the area will usually correct these symptoms.
NUMBNESS: Loss of sensation of the lip and chin may occur, usually following lower wisdom teeth removal. This is usually temporary and disappears within a few days or weeks. Occasionally, some numbness may persist for months, due to the close association of the roots of the teeth to the nerve that supplies sensation to these areas described.
It is our desire that your recovery be as smooth and pleasant as possible. If you have any questions about your progress or any symptoms you are experiencing, please call our office at (954) 356-9956. After office hours, you may call our 24-hour answering service and our doctor will contact you as soon as possible.
FACIAL WOUND CARE INFORMATION
1. Much time and surgical skill went into repair of your facial soft tissue injury and/or surgical incision. These instructions will help to minimize complications and allow for the most optimal result of your treatment. Please follow them as closely as possible. Call the office if you have any questions or concerns.
2. If a dressing was placed over the wound, please leave it in place for the first 24 hours. In most cases, the dressing may be removed after this time and the wound left uncovered for the remainder of the healing period. If the dressing should become wet or contaminated, it should be replaced with a clean, sterile pad.
3. You may shower starting on the second day after surgery. Keep the wound(s) covered with sterile gauze in the shower, then remove the wet gauze as soon as you are done. After five days, it is not necessary to cover the wounds in the shower. Do not take a bath for the first week, as this bathes the wound in dirty water.
4. Wounds on the skin should be gently cleaned twice daily with hydrogen peroxide diluted with an equal amount of sterile water or saline (salt water). This will minimize crusting.
5. After cleaning the wound, antibiotic ointment (Neosporin, Polysporin or similar product) should be applied to the area (twice daily).
6. For wounds inside the mouth, rinse your mouth at least 4 to 6 times per day with warm saline solution with a small amount of hydrogen peroxide added. The cleaner you keep the wounds inside your mouth, the more comfortable you will be, and the faster they will heal.
7. If you have been prescribed antibiotics and/or other medications, it is important to take them as directed for the full course. If you think you are experiencing an adverse reation to an antibiotic or other medication, please contact me right away.
8. Sutures should be removed 5 to 7 days following repair. Be sure you keep your appointment for this. Failure to remove sutures on time may result in infection and compromise the result of the treatment.
9. Lacerations and surgical incisions take many months to heal completely. The tissue will be weak and can be separated under sufficient force. Take care to protect these areas. You may notice that the tissue feels firmer than it did before the injury or incision, and slightly numb, during the healing period. This will improve with time, but may never feel exactly the same as before. Sun exposure will cause the maturing scar to darken, compared to the surrounding skin, so when you go outside, always cover your face with sunscreen of at least SPF 15. Wearing a hat is also helpful.
10. If the wound becomes red, swollen, painful, separates, or releases a creamy substance, or you develop a fever, these may be signs that the area is infected. If this happens, notify the office immediately. You will need to be seen for evaluation. Do not delay, as infection is treated much more easily at an early stage than later.
If you have any questions about your care or concerns about your treatment, please contact us so we can answer your questions and help you. We want your healing period to go as smoothly and comfortably as possible.
Important Instructions Regarding Intravenous Sedation
Nitrous Oxide Analgesia
Post-Operative Instructions
Post-Operative Instructions for Patients with Fractured Jaws
Post-Operative Diet Instructions