General Guidelines for all procedures:
At Smile Arc Pediatric Dentistry, your oral health and well-being are our top priorities. To ensure the success of your treatment and maintain optimal oral hygiene, additional instructions following various types of treatment are listed below. For further assistance or in the event of an emergency, do not hesitate to contact our team. In case of a serious or life-threatening emergency, please call 911 or proceed to the nearest emergency room.
Instructions Following Preventive Visits
Following a Cleaning
Your child may experience some tenderness for a day or two following dental cleaning depending on patient’s oral hygiene. If this persists, please call the dental office. For discomfort you may give your child Children’s Tylenol, Advil or Motrin as directed for the age and weight of your child.
Following a Sealant Placement
Following sealant placement, your child’s bite will be checked and adjusted as needed. Initially, your child may notice that the tooth feels a little different. Your child should avoid sticky, crunchy, candy or hard food and chewing ice.
Instructions Following Dental Visits
Instructions Following Anesthesia
Monitor your child closely for approximately two hours following the appointment. It is often wise to keep your child on a liquid or soft diet until the anesthetic has worn off. Remind your child to refrain from touching, biting, sucking, or playing with the numb area.
Instructions Following Restorative Treatment (Filling or Crown)
Please make sure they do not bite their cheeks, lips, or tongue as doing so can cause injury to the soft tissue. Your child should avoid sticky, crunchy, or hard foods. If your child experiences sensitivity or discomfort, you may give your child Children’s Tylenol, Advil or Motrin as directed for the age and weight of your child.
Instructions Following Pulp Treatment (Pulpectomy, Pulpotomy, Baby Root Canal)
If your child is experiencing sensitivity after this treatment, you may give your child Children’s Tylenol, Advil or Motrin as directed for the age and weight of your child. If sensitivity or discomfort continues for more than 72 hours, please contact our office.
Instructions Following an Extraction
Please instruct your child not to rinse, spit, or drink through a straw. Have them keep their fingers and tongue away from the area. If unusual or sustained bleeding occurs, place slightly moistened cotton gauze firmly over the extraction area, and bite down or hold in place for thirty minutes. Repeat every thirty minutes until the area is no longer bleeding. Maintain a soft diet for a day or two or until the child feels comfortable eating normally again. Avoid strenuous exercise and physical activity for the rest of the day after the extraction. For discomfort use Children’s Tylenol, Advil, or Motrin as directed for the age and weight of your child. If sensitivity or discomfort continues for more than 72 hours, please contact our office.
Instructions Following Frenectomies
What to expect immediately following the procedure:
- For infants and toddlers, extra skin-to-skin and cuddle time, warm baths or increased breast-time
- Wait until the numbness from the local anesthetic is entirely gone before eating. Avoid using straws for the first 48-hours. If you must eat while numb or partially numb, start with cool, soft, spoon-fed foods to avoid causing excess swelling, bleeding, accidental burns, or cheek/lip/tongue biting.
- Until the wound heals, it is best to avoid foods that can cause discomfort. Examples are hard/crunchy foods like chips and popcorn; acidic foods like citrus, vinegar, or tomato; and spicy foods.
- Begin to brush the teeth tonight as normal. You may resume most normal physical activity the next day. Wait 48-hours before swimming or more strenuous activity.
- Some discomfort and discolorations are to be expected following a frenectomy. In addition, some bruising of the tongue is common. Tylenol or ibuprofen (ibuprofen is not officially recommended under 2 years of age or 12 pounds) as listed by patient’s age/weight can be taken every 4-6 hours if needed to relieve any discomfort.
- Minimal swelling with discomfort may occur following surgery. Apply insulated ice to the outside of the lip if the surgery was a maxillary or mandibular labial frenectomy (upper or lower lip). For a lingual frenectomy (under tongue), try a popsicle or place ice chips under the tongue. Ice application is appropriate for the first 24-hours, then discontinue using ice. You may rinse with warm salt water 2x/day.
- Some bleeding or minor oozing following oral surgery is normal. Since we used a soft tissue laser, this is minimized. However, if excessive or heavy bleeding occurs in infants or young children, please seek immediate medical care. For children and adults, try to fold a piece of sterile gauze or a tea bag (black tea) and place this over the space where the surgery was performed. Hold with moderate pressure for 10-15 minutes. Repeat if necessary. If these measures do not help control bleeding, call the office at (858) 277-8086.
Stretches
- It is important to manipulate the area of the frenectomy to minimize reattachment (if no sutures were placed.)
- You will have specific instructions or exercises from your dentist and any other therapists you may have consulted.
- If left immobile, the body will attempt to heal itself (reattach) as it was prior to the frenectomy.
- You completing the recommended exercises is the best way to reduce the chance of the body healing unfavorably.
- Always thoroughly wash your hands before touching the surgical site. Gloves are not needed for parents.
- If a maxillary or mandibular labial frenectomy (under your upper or lower lip) was performed, you should lift the lip every few hours to move and stretch it beginning the evening of treatment. Lingual frenectomies (under tongue) may or may not have had sutures (stitches) placed.
- Beginning the evening of the treatment, you should begin your stretching regimen as demonstrated and prescribed by your dentist and/or therapist(s). Remember!
- “3 x 3 x 3” = 3 stretches (roll, pull, slide), 3 times each type, 6 stretches per day for 6 weeks
Sutures
- If sutures were placed, wait 3-4 days before you will begin your therapy regimen as prescribed by your dentist and any myofunctional/occupational/speech therapist(s).
- If sutures were placed, DO NOT attempt to immediately manipulate the wound or remove sutures. These will dissolve in 7 -10 days and do not need to be removed. There is no reason to replace individual sutures that fall out prematurely. If sutures fall out sooner than 3-4 days after the frenectomy, please refer to the “no sutures” guidelines below.
Expect to see a white patchy area in the location of the frenectomy. This is a “wet scab” and is part of the healing process.
