To ensure your comfort, and speed the healing process of your oral tissues: before, during and after implant surgery, please take the time to carefully read the following instructions and diligently carry them out.
Pre-Operative Instructions
The night before surgery, eat a normal meal that is easy to digest. The day of your surgery, eat a regular breakfast or lunch. To prepare for the first 24 hours after surgery, have food items available for a liquid or soft diet. Examples: Jell-O, ice cream, yogurt, applesauce, smoothies.
The day of surgery, wear comfortable clothes and do not wear makeup or jewelry.
Stop Aspirin and/or Aspirin products at least 7-10 days before surgery, as these thin your blood. Please consult with your medical doctor before discontinuing a blood thinner, i.e., Coumadin or Aspirin. Also, do not take multivitamins, Vitamin E, fish oil or ginseng as some supplements promote bleeding.
If you take a sedative before surgery, someone must drive you to the office and back home as we cannot allow you to drive yourself.
After surgery, a cold pack will be applied to help reduce swelling. It is advisable to have additional cold packs in your freezer to use for the rest of the day. (Ice in a Ziploc bag covered with a cloth works well.)
Antibiotics, pain medication, and possibly antiseptic rinse will be prescribed. If an antibiotic is prescribed after surgery, it is important that you take all of your antibiotic.
At least 4 post-operative visits will be scheduled to monitor your healing. If you do not have your first post-operative visit scheduled, please call our office prior to your surgery to schedule that appointment. Sutures will be removed approximately two weeks after surgery. If you have any questions regarding your surgery, please do not hesitate to ask the doctor or staff.
Pre-Operative Instructions For Implant Surgery
- Three days before your appointment, start rinsing twice a day, once after breakfast and once before bedtime, with the bottle of Periogard rinses.
- Start the antibiotic prescribed to you one hour prior to your appointment, you will finish this medication over the week.
- Take medications you usually take in the morning (such as blood pressure medicine) before coming in for your dental appointment.
- For patients who are taking blood thinning medications such as Coumadin, Warfarin, Aspirin, etc., you will need to contact our office As Soon As Possible so that we can contact your physician to check if you can stop this medicine prior to your appointment as well as to check when to stop and resume the blood thinning medicine.
- Avoid drinking alcohol for 24 hours prior to your appointment.
Post-Operative Instructions
Comfort: To alleviate discomfort, take 2-3 analgesic tablets such as Advil, Tylenol, etc., and repeat every four hours as needed. For stronger pain relief, take the prescription medication as directed. Do not rinse or brush your teeth today, as this will cause bleeding.
Swelling: Swelling is not unusual and generally subsides within 5-8 days. Keep your head elevated for 24 hours following surgery. To minimize swelling, apply an ice pack to the outside surface of your face for 10 minutes where the surgery was performed. Repeat this application every 20 minutes (10 min. on – 20 min. off) for the next 6-8 hours. Application of ice packs after these periods is not beneficial.
Bleeding: There may be occasional blood stains in your saliva during the week after surgery. If there is considerable bleeding beyond this, take a piece of gauze, form it into a “U” shape, apply it to both sides of the bleeding area, and hold it under gentle pressure. If bleeding persists after two 20 minute applications of gauze, please contact this office. Do not rinse or brush your teeth today, as this will cause bleeding.
Sinus Precautions: Keep your head elevated when resting. Try not to sneeze, but if you cannot help it, try to sneeze with your mouth open. Do not blow your nose.
Oral Hygiene: Do not use a toothbrush for 24 hours. Following that, you may gently brush your teeth and rinse your mouth. Avoid brushing the surgical areas adjacent to the packing and/or sutures. To keep your mouth fresh, brush the surface of your tongue and gently rinse with diluted mouthwash, or use an antimicrobial mouthwash such as Periogard (if prescribed.) Smoking is discouraged, since it delays the healing of tissue after surgery.
Use peroxide on cotton tip to keep plaque off area.
Do not wear your dentures or partial dentures until instructed to do so.
The graft should heal for approximately 3-6 months. After the graft has healed a second procedure will be done to insert the implant(s) into the jaw. It is expected that the implant(s) will become stable and firm within the bone and act as an anchor(s) for the prosthesis (crown). This may take an additional 8-12 weeks.
Notify us immediately for: • Repeated vomiting ▪ pain not relieved by pain medications ▪ uncontrolled bleeding ▪ fever of 101◦F or higher.
Activity:Following surgery you should avoid exertion of any type for 5 days. Types of activities which should be avoided for 5 days are: exercising, lifting and playing sports. Sun bathing should also be avoided. If surgery was extensive, excessive talking should also be avoided for a couple of days.
Post-Operative Instructions for Implant Procedure
- Smokers do not heel as well as non-smokers. If you smoke, it is best to quit before surgery. Otherwise, plan to avoid smoking for at least the first two weeks afterward.
- Plan to be quietly at home the remainder of the day of surgery, and take it easy for the next two days. Do not plan physically strenuous activities for the next 72 hours.
- If you have questions about the planned treatment, please call us.
Diet: A soft diet is recommended for approximately 2 weeks following surgery. Drink plenty of cold liquids. Do not use a straw. Nutritional supplements are recommended until you are back on your regular diet. These include: Carnation Instant Breakfast, Boost, and Ensure. Frequent small meals are better than a few large ones. Suggested soft foods from the different “Food Groups” and “Menu Suggestions” are listed below for your convenience.
Food Groups:
- Vegetable/Fruit: mashed potatoes, cooked or canned vegetables, cooked or canned fruits, (particularly prunes if you are constipated) fruit juices such as apple and orange juice, and sherbet.
- Bread/Cereal: soft bread, macaroni, spaghetti, noodles, cooked breakfast cereals with milk.
- Milk/Cheese: milk, milkshakes, ice cream, cottage cheese, and yogurt.
- Meat/Poultry/Fish/Beans/Eggs: soft meatloaf, ground chicken or liver, eggs, eggnog, custard, tofu, tuna, salmon, beans, sautéed fish, and chowder.
Menu Suggestions:
Breakfast: Orange Juice, scrambled eggs, bread with butter, coffee (warm not hot); prune juice, oatmeal and milk, poached eggs.
Lunch: Macaroni & cheese, soft-cooked carrots, ripe pear, Jell-O, tea or coffee (warm not hot); tomato juice, ground turkey with gravy, jellied cranberries, applesauce, stuffing, milk.
Dinner: Strained cream soup, flaked haddock, baked potato, mashed squash, milk, tea, coffee (warm not hot); minced roast beef with gravy, tender asparagus, noodles with gravy and butter, tea or coffee (warm not hot).
Avoid: Nuts, popcorn, chips, raw vegetables, or anything with seeds.
Please download and fill out these consent forms for surgery and bring them with you to your first visit.
