Pain Management

After the surgery it is likely to feel pain in the treated area. To tackle this you can use analgesic anti-inflammatory medication as prescribed for best results. It is best to avoid using aspirin to reduce the risk of bleeding. If the pain persists after the initial 1-2 days please contact me.

Bleeding

Probably the saliva have the pink hue on the first day after the operation, due to slight bleeding which is expected and not alarming. If there is persistent bleeding several hours after surgery, please contact me.

Avoid spitting often, or  frequent mouthwashes on the first day after surgery.

Avoid using aspirin, excessive sun exposure and intense physical exercise.

Prevention of Edema

The first few hours after surgery, place ice pack – ice cubes, wrapped in a towel – extraorally over the treated area in order to avoid the intense swelling. Place ice pack for 10 minutes and then remove it for 5 minutes, for a total period of at least 6 hours.

Mild swelling usually occurs after the completion of the first 24 hours post-operatively and will last for a few days. Swelling is normally expected and not alarming.

Placing an ice pack after the occurrence of edema is not helpful in reducing it.

Diet

It is advice to have a  soft and lukewarm diet for the first couple of days. After that please, try to avoid chewing hard food.

Oral Hygiene

It is imperative that you do not brush the treated area. Instead of brushing, a Chlorhexidine solution must be used after the first day of surgery, twice daily, to keep the area clean until sutures are removed and normal toothbrushing can resume. You can resume normal oral hygiene on all other areas, the day after the surgery.

Smoking

It is recommended that you reduce or preferably avoid smoking in the first few days after surgery, in order to promote healing.

Suture removal

If non-absorbable sutures were placed then these are removed 7-14 days after surgery.

If absorbable sutures were placed these are dissolved  in a few weeks, without the need of any further handling.