Dental Post-Surgery Tips for Easy Recovery

Ask anyone who has been through it and they will tell you that recovering from even minor dental surgery requires extra time and comfort for the overall health and well-being of each patient. While the discomfort is only temporary, dental surgery limits a person’s ability to talk and eat properly and involves some over-the-counter pain medication during the healing process.Although needing a little extra care, a person who has had dental surgery is not left to simply wallow in his or her discomfort. There are many easy things a person can do to make recovering from dental surgery a snap. Read on for some quick post-surgery tips that can ease the burden.

Get More Rest

It might seem like an obvious thing to do, but many people do not get proper rest after having oral surgery or a tooth extraction. One of the best dental post-surgery tips is to simply get plenty of rest after the procedure. People often try to exercise in the first couple of days after surgery, which can cause the body’s healing process to slow significantly. The best thing to do after surgery is to curl up on the couch with a good book or a favorite television show and let the body recuperate. An even better idea? Get plenty of sleep. That will speed recovery even more.

Keep it Clean

Another post-surgery recovery tip that may seem obvious but is often overlooked is to keep the mouth clean. Many people do a great job of this immediately following the surgery but start to slack off once they are feeling a little better and their mouths do not hurt as much. This can be a big mistake. It is vitally important to keep the mouth — and the wound site in particular — clean until everything is fully healed. Brushing, flossing and rinsing with a salt-water mouthwash after eating should help keep the bacteria and debris to a minimum. However, don’t start the salt-water mouthwash until about 24 hours after the surgery. This will give the effected area time to start healing. Also, when brushing, be extra careful around the surgery site to make sure the blood clot that has formed does not come loose, which can lengthen healing time.

What to Eat

Eat only soft foods and liquids in the days after the surgery, which will ease the burden on the mouth and allow faster healing. Avoid things such as spicy foods, soda and hot drinks, which can irritate the effected area. Soup, yogurt and smoothies all make excellent foods to eat post-surgery. No matter how minor, dental surgery requires simple care to encourage complete healing and overall well-being of each patient.

Robert Seitzinger writes about a variety of dental health topics for dentists and this Portland periodontist specializing in dental surgery and recovery for patients of all ages.