Dental surgery: our post-operative advice

After your surgery, the recovery period is crucial for optimal healing and avoiding complications. Here are a few recommendations to facilitate your recovery and improve the results of your surgery.

Ice application

For the first two or three days after the operation, applying ice to the operated area is essential to reduce inflammation and manage pain. Use an ice pack or a specialized product such as Nexcare, taking care to avoid direct contact with the skin to prevent burns. Try to apply ice for 10 minutes every hour.

Zero pressure

• No pressure on the operated site during the healing period: 3 MONTHS MINIMUM! No tongue, fingers or food… Touching it can be enough to reopen the wound and lead to a complication. The operated site must remain “serene” and CLEAN, to avoid over-infection or fibrosis.

• No mechanical stress (tongue pressure, chewing, support of removable prosthesis) on gum grafts for 2 months, or on implants or bone grafts for 3 to 6 months.

Sleeping head position :

• Head elevated for: 3 to 4 days
• Do not sleep on the operated side: 7 to 10 days

Medicines

Strictly adhere to your prescribed medication regimen. If you have any concerns or questions about your treatment, please do not hesitate to contact your dentist for further information.

Post-operative diet

After dental surgery, adopt a gentle, healthy and balanced diet. Avoid spicy foods or anything that might irritate the operated area, and refrain from eating directly on the implants until they have completely healed. Prefer cold or lukewarm drinks.

Brushing

For implants :

• Nothing on the surgical site for 5 days, then gentle brushing. From day 5, start brushing with a surgical toothbrush from the gum towards the implant and over the sutures.
• Then, after 15 days, switch to the INAVA “conical sensitivity” brush (no electric brush on the operated site for 3 months).

For gum grafts :

• No brushing on the graft until your suture removal appointment at 15 days, then start brushing with a surgical toothbrush for 1 month.
• Note: differentiate the operated site from the rest of the mouth, which should continue to receive your usual care! From the day after surgery, non-operated areas should be brushed normally with your usual soft toothbrush.

Mouthwash :

Never in the first 24 hours. Then avoid rinsing your mouth too hard or too often! This would cause the operated area to reopen. The blood clot must remain intact, and no vigorous mouthwashing will weaken the area that needs to heal.

Spray with HYALUGEL antiseptic spray: like mouthwash, start 24 hours after surgery. Spray on sutures to keep healing wounds clean.

Smokers

Avoid smoking, because regenerating tissue is very fragile. Mouthwash should never be used after a cigarette – it’s a double whammy for tissues!

To find out more about post-surgery

• Edema and hematoma

They are frequent, can be impressive but are not serious. To limit them: stay calm for the first 3 days after surgery, but walk around, prefer sitting to lying down, sleep with 2 pillows, ice regularly for the first 2 days. Patience and arnica.

• Suture thread

The sutures used are absorbable (rapid resorption, approx. 12 to 18 days). They always create a small red inflammatory reaction at the stitch, which is normal.

After day 5, the surgical toothbrush should be brushed over the gums and stitches (to prevent the thread from becoming clogged with bacteria).

Be careful, these threads are extremely fine and the simple act of playing with them with the tongue can be enough to cause them to release prematurely, risking the site reopening.

• After a sinus lift

Respect guided bone regeneration in the airways. Do not blow your nose, prefer gentle washing if necessary. Do not fly for 15 days. In the event of post-operative sinusitis, please contact us and we will change the antibiotic as soon as possible.