An anesthetic will be used to numb parts of the mouth (teeth, gums, lips, cheeks, tongue, or palate). Please follow these precautions, especially if your child has never been numbed in the mouth before:

Monitor your child for any biting, chewing, or scratching of the lips, cheek or tongue. This may result in swelling or laceration that will be uncomfortable once the anesthetic wears off.

Avoid solid and hot foods until the anesthetic wears off (can take up to 2 hours). Give your child something cold and soft to eat, like yogurt, Jello, milkshake, or ice cream.

If your child feels any pain or discomfort after the anesthetic wears off, you may give them Children’s Tylenol (if they are not allergic).

Reassure your child that the numb feeling is normal and that it will soon go away.

Have your child bite on the gauze for 20-30 minutes after leaving our office. A little bit of oozing blood is normal, and the saliva may be slightly red for up to 24 hours. If bleeding becomes uncontrolled after leaving our office, please have your child continue to bite on gauze and call us immediately.

No drinking straws, sippy cups, or sports bottles with nozzles. This kind of suction can pull out the clot in the extraction site and cause more bleeding, which can delay healing.

Same precautions for numbed oral tissues as stated before.

Avoid any intense physical activity, and please avoid swimming pools for several days (dirty pool water could cause an infection). 

Keep your child’s diet as soft and clear as possible (soup broth, yogurt, Jell-O, pudding, runny mashed potatoes are ok with a SPOON). Avoid anything with particles that can go in the extraction site and cause inflammation or infection (seeds, rice, or grains).

Give children’s Tylenol as needed (as long as there are no allergies to it) for any discomfort your child may feel after the numbing wears off.

Do not brush the extraction site for at least 24 hours. The other teeth can be carefully brushed and flossed.

Have your child gently rinse with warm salt water after meals for 2-3 days, starting the day after the extraction. A clean mouth will heal more quickly.

Please call our office with any questions or concerns.

The cement used to deliver the crowns or space maintainers will gradually set within minutes after seating them on the tooth.

Do not floss around the crown or space maintainer until the next day.

IN GENERAL, please avoid any sticky, gummy or hard/crunchy snacks – they can dislodge or pull off the crown or space maintainer.

Soft diet for the rest of the day.

Thorough, but gentle brushing at the gum line to promote faster healing of any inflamed gum tissue.

If the crown or space maintainer ever gets dislodged or falls out, save it in a container and call our office to have it re-cemented as soon as possible.  

If a space maintainer is not re-cemented soon after it comes off, the teeth may shift and the spacer may no longer fit. A new space maintainer would then have to be made.