Practice Name

Specialty

City, State

Phone

Surgical Instructions

517 E. Lancaster Ave.
Shillington, PA 19607

610.777.7646

 

426 West Main Street
Kutztown, PA 19530

610.683.6000

After Placement of Dental Implants

To promote healing after your surgery:

  1. Peridex mouth rinse, full strength, two/three/four times a day for the first week. The rinse should be used 1/2 strength the second week on the same schedule. Follow the instructions on the bottle (disregard the warning about staining teeth unless advised otherwise)
  2. Liquid/very soft diet for the first: one/two/three days/weeks after surgery. Avoid crunchy foods for the first week. Avoid foods that are heavily seeded for the first week. This includes fruits like strawberries and blueberries. A single seed in a surgical site can greatly complicate and extend the healing process.
  3. Smoking should be avoided. Smoking doubles the likelihood of complications during the healing and doubles the incidence of implant failure.
  4. If you have a temporary prosthesis to wear during the healing period it should not be worn until examined for fit and adjusted by the surgeon or your restoritive dentist. Temporary tooth replacements that are worn without being adjusted can adversely affect healing, implant integration and the appearance of the final resotoration.
  5. Bleeding can be controlled by biting gently but firmly on a moist gauze pack for 20 –30 minutes. The staff member in the recovery area will instruct you on how to shape and place the gauze pack. If bleeding presists after two applications of the gauze, the surgical office should be contacted.

Post-op Medications

You should begin taking pain medication as soon as you feel the local anesthetic wearing off. For moderate pain, 1 or 2 Tylenol or Extra Strength Tylenol may be taken every 3-4 hours. Ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin) may be taken instead of Tylenol. Ibuprofen, bought over the counter comes in 200 mg tablets: 2-3 tablets may be taken every 3-4 hours as needed for pain. For severe pain, the prescribed medication should be taken as directed. Do not take any of the above medication if you are allergic, or have been instructed by your doctor not to take it. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions.

Be sure to take the prescribed antibiotics as directed to help prevent infection.

Activity

Keep physical activities to a minimum immediately following surgery. If do partake in exercise, throbbing or bleeding may occur. If this happens, you should discontinue exercising. Keep in mind that you are probably not taking normal nourishment. This may weaken you and further limit your ability to exercise.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS REGARDING YOUR POST-OPERATIVE CARE, PLEASE CALL THE OFFICE IMMEDIATELY

For your convienece you may download our post-operative instructions here.