What Can I Eat After Oral Surgery?

Oral Surgery Without Fear!

If you are scheduled to have oral surgery for any reason, chances are your mouth will be very tender and uncomfortable post-surgery. Aside from limiting your physical activity and finding methods to decrease the pain, you will also need to alter your diet. If your surgery was very invasive, you may have to change your diet for a few days up to a week, depending on the type of work done. Understanding the proper way to eat following your surgery will help your recovery as well as your overall health.

Immediately After Surgery

Typically, immediately after oral surgery you will be unable to eat any type of food until the bleeding subsides. Once the bleeding has stopped, the type of diet that you can consume will depend on the work that was done on your mouth, but typically you will be restricted to a liquid or soft foods diet. 

Liquid Diet

If you are required to stay on a liquid diet, you should consume foods, such as:

• Clear liquids, such as apple juice, water or any other non-acidic juices
• Jell-O
• Tea
• Clear broth

Soft Foods

If you have been cleared to eat soft foods, there are many foods to choose from that have nutritional value. Try to choose those that offer the most nutritional benefits in order to provide your mouth and health with the appropriate nutrients as you heal. A few of the most common foods to consume include:

• Oatmeal
• Scrambled eggs
• Yogurt smoothies
• Soup
• Bananas, cut into pieces
• Soft pasta

Your dentist, Dr. Giri Palani, will have given you follow-up care instructions post-surgery, and if you have any questions - please call us at (310) 894-8301. Nervous about your oral surgery? We have sedation options so you can experience your dental treatment with no fear!

Anxiety-Free Dental Care with Sedation in Beverly Hills

You can experience anxiety free
dentistry with sedation.

If you are preparing for a filling, root canal, crown, tooth extraction, or other dental procedure, you now have an option to relieve your dental anxiety. At Total SmileCare in Beverly Hills, there are several options available to our patients for relief of pain and anxiety during routine dental visits.

Conscious, or moderate sedation, allows patients to remain awake during dental procedures. Patients are able to interact with their dentists but do not feel any discomfort or pain. Moderate sedation can also help patients avoid more severe side effects of general anesthesia such as nausea, headache, vertigo and long-term drowsiness. This form of sedation generally causes the patient to not remember anything about their dental appointment other than a pleasant experience.

One of the most common forms of non-IV sedation is Nitrous Oxide, known as 'laughing gas'. Patients of all ages can use Nitrous Oxide with minimal to no side effects.

Make sure you tell Dr. Palani about any drug allergies or dependencies, existing prescriptions or over-the-counter drug use, medical conditions, changes in your health, history of anxiety, heart conditions or alcohol use before undergoing treatment. You and your Beverly Hills dental team will discuss the benefits and risks of each option. We will work with you to make sure you have a pain-free, anxiety-free, comfortable experience.

Sources Used:

http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/patient_education/pepubs/consed.pdf

http://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/a/anesthesia-and-sedation.aspx

http://www.ada.org/sections/scienceAndResearch/pdfs/patient_06.pdf

History of Sedation Dentistry

Going to the dentist can be a great source of stress. Thanks to the invention of sleep or sedation dentistry, things have changed. Apprehensive patients can relax and everyone can experience pain free dentistry. At Dr. Palani's offices, he offers a full spectrum of sedation dentistry to custom fit your needs. Before explaining the services offered, let Dr. Palani tell you about the history of sedation or sleep dentistry.

Often referred to as "sleep dentistry" or "sedation dentistry", minimizing or eliminating fear or anxiety around dental procedures is not new or unique. Dentists have been working on ways to ease discomfort or fear of dental procedures since the 19th century. In 1845, Connecticut dentist Horace Wells convinced his partner John Riggs to use nitrous oxide to extract his aching tooth. The extraction was a success and no discomfort was felt. Dr. Wells realized that he had the opportunity to change dental experiences for everyone.

Wanting to share his discovery, Dr. Wells attempted to demonstrate the use of nitrous oxide during a dental procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital. Unfortunately, the gas bag was withdrawn too soon and the patient experienced pain. The audience booed Dr. Wells and walked out of the auditorium, leaving him humiliated. However, in that audience was one of Dr. Wells' students, a young man named William Morton. Believing in the procedure, William Morton decided to try and [...] Read More

To experience sedation dentistry and relieve anxiety about your dental treatment, call us today at (310) 601-7950 and schedule your consultation with Dr. Palani, Beverly Hills' premier sleep dentist.