Rules To Follow For A Successful Oral Surgery Recovery

Rest! Rest! Rest!

The most important part of a successful recovery is to make sure that you give your body the rest it needs. We find it best that you give yourself 3-4 days of downtime, and 1 week off strenuous physical activity after surgery. You may be feeling pretty good day 2 or 3, but don’t be tempted to go back to work or school just yet! Usually if you do too much too soon, it can set your recovery back a bit.

I’m so hungry & thirsty, when & what can I eat?

After you take your gauze out (which you need to have in for 1 hour) you can drink anything your heart desires (except alcohol)! Also, no straws for 1 week!!! The sucking motion used with a straw can dislodge the clot that is trying to form in your extraction site, and if that happens it can lead to a dry socket, something you will want to avoid! (PS: Smoking increases your chance of getting a dry socket as well) Remember, you will be on a soft food diet for 1-week post-surgery, and as tempting as it is to “cheat” you will only be taking a chance of delaying your healing. Nothing crunchy, hard or small like nuts or popcorn! They can get lodged in the extraction sites and cause issues!

The Proper Way To Rinse

No rinsing for the first 24 hours! Once you reach the 24-hour mark post-surgery, you can start rinsing. If you were given a prescription rinse, you will make that the first and last rinses of your day. In between the special rinse, you will rinse with salt water after every meal.  Helpful tip, if you have a gallon jug at home already, just go ahead and mix up a batch of salt water and then it will be ready to go whenever you need it! Keep up with your rinsing! We know it’s a lot, but a successful recovery depends on it.

Paine Management

We realize that one of the biggest concerns of anyone having surgery is, how will I manage the pain? After your surgery is done, Dr. Rendulich may choose to give you a prescription medication for the pain. We know that with the current opioid epidemic, many people will choose not to use their prescription and we are big proponents of Combo Therapy. It is when you use a combination of over-the-counter medications to address your discomfort. We find that this approach works well for many of our patients.

Remember we are always available for any questions or concerns

After your surgery we will send you home with very detailed Post Operative Instructions. Typically, if you follow these, they will help you on the road to a speedy recovery! Of course, sometimes things will come up that you just might need some guidance with, and we are always here to help. We want your recovery to go just as smoothly as you do!