Important Recovery Tips Following Gum Graft Surgery

Receding gums can give rise to a plethora of other health complications if left untreated for a long time. A Gum graft surgery can curb the progress of receding gums and help you retain your natural look. By taking some healthy tissue from the roof of your mouth, our dentist will graft it over the infected part, thereby allowing the receded gums to grow back to natural strength. By taking certain precautions you can eliminate the chance of infection and speed up the recovery process.

Recovery Tips for Gum Graft Surgery

Depending on your case, our dentists will prescribe some antibiotic medicines post the surgery to make sure the healing process goes well. You must finish the course of all prescribed medications to avoid post-surgery infections. Our dentists will most likely give you a palatal stent, but you can proactively ask for one too. This tool will help the healing process by keeping food particles away from the infected area while eating.

Icing the affected areas is the best remedy to reducing pain and swelling. Post gum graft surgery, it is common for the site of the surgery to swell up a bit. Take an ice pack and keep applying it to the swollen area every twenty minutes for maximum effect. An ice pack is sufficient in most cases to bring the pain under control, but if that fails, feel free to rely on over-the-counter pain medications to ease the pain.

We advise our patients to avoid extremely hot or cold foods after a gum graft surgery as it can aggravate the site of the surgery and cause swelling. Consuming a liquid diet, such as soups or stew for the first few days after surgery can help the wounds heal quicker. Soft or mushy foods such as fruits, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, or eggs are also good options.

Maintaining good oral hygiene and optimum amounts of rest is very important to the healing process. Brush your teeth gently and avoid the wounded areas to keep your mouth free of bacteria and foul smell. Our dentists do not recommend flossing until your mouth has healed completely. For more information, please schedule an appointment with us today.