- As with natural teeth, avoid chewing excessively hard foods on the filled teeth (hard candy, ice, raw carrots, etc.) because the resin material can break under extreme forces.
- Composite fillings set up hard right away. There is no waiting time to eat. Children should be observed until the anesthetic wears off. Due to the strange feeling of the anesthetic, many children will chew the inside of their lips, cheeks, or tongue which can cause serious damage.
- Sensitivity to hot and cold will occasionally occur for a few weeks following a dental restoration. Usually, the deeper the cavity, the more sensitive the tooth will be. It is important that the bite is correctly balanced in order for the sensitivity to improve. If the bite does not feel even with the other teeth, please call for an appointment for a simple adjustment.
- The gum tissue could have been irritated during the procedure and may be sore for a few days together with the anesthetic injection site. Feel free to take Advil or Tylenol to help with the soreness.
- The finished restoration may be contoured slightly different and have a different texture than the original tooth. Your tongue usually magnifies this small difference, but you will become accustomed to this in a few days.
- If the sensitivity lingers longer than a few weeks, please call the office to have it examined.
- Temporaries are not strong. Be careful with hard or sticky foods in order to not pull off or break the temporary. Generally do not floss the around your temporary crown unless instructed otherwise.
- If your temporary comes out, save the temporary if possible and please call the office and get an appointment to have it replaced. Generally no harm will be done to the tooth for a couple of days if the temporary is not in place, although the prepared tooth may be sensitive to hot and cold. Please do not leave the temporary out of your mouth for more than two or three days because the teeth will move and the final restoration may not fit. The size, shape, and color of the temporary does not resemble the final restoration.
- Temporary restorations do not seal the tooth as well as the permanent restoration will. Sensitivity to hot, cold, pressure, or sweets is not uncommon. If you feel the bite is not correctly balanced, please call for an appointment for a simple adjustment.
- The gum tissue could have been irritated during the procedure and may be sore for a few days together with the anesthetic injection site. Feel free to take Advil or Tylenol to help with the soreness.
- After the final cementation of your restoration, it may take a few days to get used to the new crown or bridge. Hot and cold sensitivity is possible for a few weeks and occasionally lasts for several months. As with the temporary, if the bite doesn’t feel balanced please call us.
- Do not chew hard or sticky foods on the restoration for 24 hours from the time they were cemented. The cement must set up during this time to have optimum strength.
- Proper brushing, flossing, and regular cleanings are required to help you retain your final restoration. The only area that a crowned tooth can decay is at the edge of the crown at the gum line. Often, small problems that develop around the restorations can be found at an early stage and corrected easily, but waiting for a longer time may require replacing the entire restoration.
- Normally we will recommend the appropriate pain medication for your treatment before you leave our office. We commonly will advise two ibuprofen tablets (Advil) combined with two Tylenol tablets, taken no more than every 6 hours as needed for comfort. If this is not adequate, please call our office.
- One common occurrence with a newly root-canalled tooth is for the tooth to feel high when you bite your teeth together. If this occurs it will cause your tooth to stay sensitive for a longer period of time. Please call us if your bite feels “high” as this problem is easily rectified with a simple bite adjustment.
- A temporary filling may be used to temporarily seal the tooth between visits.
- Be gentle on the tooth while eating until the final restoration is placed.
- The gum tissue could have been irritated during the procedure and may be sore for a few days together with the anesthetic injection site.
- During endodontic treatment, the nerve, blood and nutrient supply to the tooth is removed. This will cause the tooth to become brittle and prone to fracturing which could result in the need to extract the tooth. A full coverage crown is recommended to prevent this from happening.
- After an extraction, it’s important for a blood clot to form to stop the bleeding and begin the healing process. That’s why we ask you to bite on a gauze pad for 30 to 45 minutes after the extraction. If bleeding or oozing continues after you remove the gauze pad, place another gauze pad and bite firmly for another thirty minutes. You may have to do this several times. If bleeding hasn’t stopped with a few hours, call our office to speak to the doctor. After the blood clot forms it is important to protect it especially for the next 24 hours. The following activities will dislodge the clot and slow down healing.
- Do not: smoke suck through a straw rinse your mouth vigorously spit clean the teeth next to the extraction site Limit yourself to calm activities for the first 24 hours, this keeps your blood pressure lower, reduces bleeding and helps the healing process.
- After the tooth is extracted you may feel some pain and have some swelling. You can use an ice bag to keep this to a minimum. The swelling usually starts to go down after 48 hours.
- Use pain medication only as directed, and call the office if it doesn’t seem to be working. If antibiotics are prescribed, continue to take them for the indicated length of time, even if all symptoms and signs of infection are gone.
- Drink lots of fluids and eat only soft nutritious foods on the day of the extraction. (Don’t use alcoholic beverages and avoid hot and spicy foods.)
- Gently rinse your mouth with salt water three times a day beginning the day after the extraction (a tsp. of salt in a cup of warm water, rinse-swish-spit). Also, rinse gently after meals, it helps keep food out of the extraction site.
- It is very important to resume your normal dental routine after 24 hours, this should include brushing your teeth and tongue and flossing at least once a day. This speeds healing and helps keep your breath and mouth fresh.
- Call us right away if you have heavy bleeding, severe pain, continued swelling after two or three days, or a reaction to the medication.
- After a few days you will be feeling fine and can resume your normal activities.
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