Prep for Dental Surgery with These 5 Tips

Prep for Dental Surgery with These 5 Tips

Like most things in life, planning ahead can make everything flow much easier. If you’re having dental surgery, then preparing yourself for the operation and for the post-surgery period will help the whole procedure run much smoother. 

Here are 5 tips to help you prepare for your dental surgery.  

1. Understand the procedure. 

Before you embark on dental surgery, make sure you have discussed all the possibilities with your surgeon. 

Understanding the risks of having dental surgery is as important as understanding the benefits. Discussing the surgery with your dentist beforehand will give you the opportunity to ask any questions, and it can also make you feel more at ease about the upcoming procedure. 

2. Buy food and prepare meals.

This will help you after dental surgery, when your focus will be on recovering and healing by caring for your mouth. Heading to the store in advance of your procedure to buy food that is soft and gentle on your mouth will benefit you when you return home. 

Buy food that is easy to chew, like mashed potatoes or ice cream. Consider prepping meals in advance, like making your own soup. Doing so will make it easier on you after the surgery.

3. Don’t eat or drink before dental surgery.

In some cases, you might be sedated to undergo dental surgery, so your surgeon will ask you not to eat or drink (even water) after midnight before the surgery. 

The reason for this is that it decreases the chance of aspiration, which is a dangerous complication of anesthesia. This can be a serious problem because you can inhale the contents from your stomach, which can block your airway or cause aspiration pneumonia—both of which can be very serious. 

4. Organize a lift.  

If you have been sedated for your dental surgery, then you will be unable to drive yourself home after the procedure. The anesthetic can cause disorientation, which makes driving dangerous. 

Organize a lift from a family or friend, and if that’s not possible, then use public transportation to make sure you get home safely. 

5. Arrive early for surgery.

It’s recommended that you arrive for your dental surgery appointment around 20 minutes in advance. This gives you time to relax and get comfortable ahead of the procedure, and you can use that time to fill out any paperwork that might be required. 

Arriving early will also give you the opportunity to ask any more questions to the nurses before the surgery begins.

Get in touch. 

Patients and surgeons alike want the process of dental surgery to go as efficiently as possible, including the recovery period. If you would like to speak to COOMSA ahead of your dental surgery, then get in touch with us today