Implant Surgery Post Operative Instructions
Your implants have been placed
in the bone and now your body is going to develop bone around them - a
process called osseointegration. In essence what you need to do in the
short term will sound familiar because it is very similar to the
instructions you received after your tooth was extracted. Initially, we
are most concerned with bleeding, swelling and pain. Later we will
address home care and eating.
Bleeding
You were sent home biting on cotton gauze. When you get home, about 45 minutes after you left our office, take a couple of the gauze you were given , fold them into a pad, remove the bloody gauze from your mouth and replace it with the new one. Make sure the pad is making contact with the tissue in the area of the surgery. If it is not, it may be too small and you may need to add more gauze. You will need to replace the gauze every 30-45 minutes until the bleeding is stopped. If you have a small amount of blood oozing from the site, wet a tea bag, wrap it in a gauze and bite on that for about 30 minutes. The teabag may help to finalize and stabilize the clot.
Swelling
The implant surgery sometimes takes longer than an extraction and oftentimes the cheek or lip tissue needs to be held out of the way longer. Sometimes, this will lead to swelling. The best thing to help this is cold compresses to the area, 20 minutes on/ 20 minutes off, especially for the first 4-6 hours after the procedure. Even though you look normal, you may wake up with some swelling the next day. This is nothing to worry about. The cold compresses will help reduce swelling only during the first 24-36 hours.
Pain
In general, there is not usually a lot of pain with implant placement. As with extractions, Tylenol is preferable to ibuprofen or aspirin during the first 6-8 hours while you are trying to clot. After that time, the ibuprofen is probably the best choice because it will help with inflammation and swelling which Tylenol does not and it is less irritating to your stomach than aspirin. If you have pain that does not respond to the over-the-counter medications, then you should use the narcotic that was prescribed. If you do use it, make sure you put something in your stomach before you take it and when you take the first pill, wait to see how it affects you before driving. Discomfort should diminish steadily over the first few days.
Bleeding
You were sent home biting on cotton gauze. When you get home, about 45 minutes after you left our office, take a couple of the gauze you were given , fold them into a pad, remove the bloody gauze from your mouth and replace it with the new one. Make sure the pad is making contact with the tissue in the area of the surgery. If it is not, it may be too small and you may need to add more gauze. You will need to replace the gauze every 30-45 minutes until the bleeding is stopped. If you have a small amount of blood oozing from the site, wet a tea bag, wrap it in a gauze and bite on that for about 30 minutes. The teabag may help to finalize and stabilize the clot.
Swelling
The implant surgery sometimes takes longer than an extraction and oftentimes the cheek or lip tissue needs to be held out of the way longer. Sometimes, this will lead to swelling. The best thing to help this is cold compresses to the area, 20 minutes on/ 20 minutes off, especially for the first 4-6 hours after the procedure. Even though you look normal, you may wake up with some swelling the next day. This is nothing to worry about. The cold compresses will help reduce swelling only during the first 24-36 hours.
Pain
In general, there is not usually a lot of pain with implant placement. As with extractions, Tylenol is preferable to ibuprofen or aspirin during the first 6-8 hours while you are trying to clot. After that time, the ibuprofen is probably the best choice because it will help with inflammation and swelling which Tylenol does not and it is less irritating to your stomach than aspirin. If you have pain that does not respond to the over-the-counter medications, then you should use the narcotic that was prescribed. If you do use it, make sure you put something in your stomach before you take it and when you take the first pill, wait to see how it affects you before driving. Discomfort should diminish steadily over the first few days.
Bleeding has stopped, you used the cold compresses for the swelling, you have taken pain medication, what else do I need to do?
- AVOID SUCTION FOR FIRST 24 HOURS- Suction pressure will destabilize the clot and make you bleed more. So, do not use a straw, do not smoke and do not spit. For the first 24 hours, to get the taste of blood out of your mouth or toothpaste after you brush….put some water in your mouth, gently roll your head, lean over the sink and drool.
- Eating: try to stick to softer foods and liquids. Do not eat anything firm or crunchy on the side of your mouth that had the surgery especially during the first week. The implant and the stitches need to be left alone. If you are not uncomfortable, this is sometimes hard to remember, but the better you do in leaving the surgical site alone, the greater the chance for success.
- Medications : the pain medication is discretionary - if you need it, take it. On the other hand, if you were given a prescription for an antibiotic, continue to take this as instructed until finished.
- Activity - take it easy during the first 24 hours; keeping your blood pressure down will make clotting easier. You may return to work or school the next day as long as you feel well. Sleeping - some people find it helps for the first night to sleep on an extra pillow to elevate their head; keeping your head above heart level will help with swelling.
- If you were given a prescription mouthrinse like Peridex, do not use this for the first 24 hours. After that, try to gently rinse at least two times each day as directed on the bottle. Don't be too aggressive with the rinsing the first few days. You are just trying to keep the area clean.
- Brushing and Flossing - You can continue normal home care everywhere else in your mouth, but the implant area should be left alone. Don't do anything in that area including rinsing for the first 24 hours. Then you can start the mild rinsing after that. You can go back to brushing and flossing the area after one week.
- Stitches, if placed, will need to be removed. Please keep the appointment for this as scheduled. If the stitches should become dislodged, call our office.
- SMOKING - You have already been informed of this, but just to emphasize this - Smoking greatly reduces success in implant placement. DO NOT SMOKE.