Bleeding You may have a pink tinge to your saliva for the next 24-48 hours. This is to be expected. Should you have blood pooling in your mouth, please call the office.

Swelling Swelling is a normal occurrence after surgery, generally does not occur until two/three days after surgery. To minimize swelling an ice pack, or frozen bag of peas can be placed on your cheek after surgery. We recommend icing for 20 minutes on then 20 minutes with ice off. Apply the ice continuously, as much as possible, for the first 36 hours to help reduce swelling. Also using gravity to your advantage can reduce swelling; sleep with your head on top of a few pillows the night of surgery.

Diet Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid hot liquids and/or foods the day of surgery or until the numbness has worn off. Continue to stay on a soft food diet during your post op week as Dr Harper will advance you diet upon follow up. **DO NOT stay on only a liquid diet, your body requires plenty of nutrients to heal and regenerate.

Pain The biggest thing to remember is that you should not be in pain. Soreness is normal and to be expected. Should you have pain, you need to call the office. We recommend staying on 400-600mg of Ibuprofen, Tylenol or Advil as a baseline analgesic and taking the prescribed pain medication for any break through discomfort.

** Do not take any of the above medication if you are allergic, or have been instructed by your doctor not to take it. Do not take narcotic prescriptions with benzodiazepine prescriptions (like Xanax, Valium, Versed).

Antibiotics Be sure to take the prescribed antibiotics as directed to help prevent infection. The full course of the antibiotic should be finished and completed. Please take the antibiotic with food or some sort of dairy product.

Oral Hygiene Good oral hygiene is essential to healing. The night of surgery, use the prescribed Peridex Oral Rinse before bed. Peridex should be used twice daily, after breakfast and before bed. Be sure to rinse for at least 30 seconds then gently spit it out. Warm salt water rinses (teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water) should be used at least 4-5 times a day, especially after meals. You may brush the rest of your teeth as normal but DO NOT brush the surgical site until instructed.

Activity We want you to take it easy and keep physical activities to a minimum for one week following your surgery. If you are considering exercising, throbbing or bleeding may occur. If bleeding does occur, you should discontinue the exercise. Keep in mind that you are not taking normal amount of nourishment your body is use to, due to diet restrictions. This may limit your ability to exercise.

Wearing your Prosthesis Partial dentures, flippers, or full dentures should not be used immediately after surgery and for at least 10 days or until Dr. Harper further advances care. If you were instructed to leave your device in to help heal the site, do not remove unless to rinse. Rinse with COOL water only, then replace. Do not place excessive force or pressure on device while eating.