After Care Instructions

A slight amount of discomfort is to be expected after any dental procedure once local anesthesia has subsided, but please contact us immediately if that discomfort lingers beyond two days and or interferes with your sleep or work.

Carefully clean around the restoration, brushing and flossing daily. When flossing, take extra care not to loosen the temporary restoration by removing the floss too roughly. You can slowly thread the floss out by one end if necessary to avoid too much pressure on the temporary.

Once your final restoration has been placed avoid chewing on hard, crunchy or sticky foods for 24 hours in order to give time for the cement to fully bond. Mild sensitivity to hot or cold foods is not unusual and should dissipate.

Ongoing care for your restoration includes brushing your teeth after every meal and snack, and flossing at least once a day before bedtime. Rinsing your mouth with water or mouthwash with also help to remove any additional particles that may have been missed during brushing and flossing.

Please call our office if you are in pain or have any questions regarding your treatment.

However, please do not eat or chew until any numbness from anesthesia has worn off. If you are supervising a child who had treatment, make certain that they are not eating or chewing until the numbness has completely subsided.  If the lips or tongue are bitten by mistake, it can cause serious injury, and significant infection to follow.

Mild sensitivity to cold and heat, as well as any soreness, should not last more than a couple of days. Please contact us for any discomfort that exceeds these parameters.

1. Avoid chewing on the affected side.
2. Avoid rinsing your mouth with any mouth rinse including water and salt.
3. If your surgery includes an extraction, most of the time a dressing will be placed,  so please avoid removing it. If not, you will be provided with gauze to bite on and instructed to apply pressure to the area. Please remove the gauze after two hours. You will be provided with extra gauze to use if the bleeding persists. If that bleeding persists, you can wet a teabag and bite down on it to help stop the bleeding.
4. Please only eat soft lukewarm foods such as mashed potatoes, soup and the like, avoiding any crunchy, hot or cold drinks or food as those could interfere with the clotting and the healing of the area and lead to infection, as well as a delay in the healing and pain.
5. For at least a week, please avoid exercises that may lead to an increase in blood pressure in the head such as weight lifting, jogging, tennis or even bending down as these activities tend to cause an increase in bleeding and a delay in the clotting and healing.
6. If the surgical procedure included a sinus lift, please avoid sneezing with your mouth closed.
7. If the surgical procedure included a sinus lift, use over the counter sinus decongestant for one week.
8. If you are using a temporary removable appliance, please use it only when needed and if you feel that the appliance is applying pressure to the site, please contact the office immediately.
9. Please complete taking the prescribed medications as indicated.
10. Some bleeding, swelling and discomfort is to be expected after any kind of surgery, but these symptoms should continue to improve gradually, please let us know if the symptoms increase.
11. Please do not use a tooth brush at the site and do not attempt to remove any of the sutures.
12. Please make sure to return on your one week follow up appointment.

Please feel free to call the office with any other concerns and after hours feel free to call Dr. Attar at 781-258-5049.

If you have been prescribed pain medication besides aspirin, Tylenol or ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin), do not drive, operate heavy equipment, work around machinery or tools or engage in any other activity that may be unsafe when groggy, as your reflexes and judgment will be affected by the medication. Do not take more than 800mg every 4-6 hours. Medication should not be taken on an empty stomach. If you have been placed on antibiotics, take the medicine as directed. Antibiotics may be prescribed to help prevent infection.

Swelling around the face, eyes and surgical site is not uncommon. This swelling may not appear until the day following the surgery and may become more noticeable two to three days following surgery. You can help to minimize the swelling by applying a cold compress on the face near the extraction site alternating on for 20 minutes then off for 20 minutes. After 36 hours the ice will have no further impact on swelling. After this period, the application of moist heat to the sides of the face can help reduce swelling.

For 24 hours following your surgery, do not suck on a straw, brush, rinse, spit, or smoke. Avoid hot and spicy foods, carbonated and alcoholic beverages. During the first few days after surgery restrict your diet to liquids and soft foods such as soups, yogurt, juice, and smoothies. Restrict your activities on the day of your surgery, avoid excessive work or play and resume normal activity the following day as tolerated.

If any sutures were required, they will dissolve on their own in 7-10 days. It will not be necessary to return to the office for sutures to be removed.

Children should be supervised after having an extraction to make sure they do not bite or their tongue or lips as it can cause serious injury to their soft tissue.

Please call our office if you experience severe pain, excessive bleeding or swelling, or if you have any questions or concerns. In the event of an emergency, please call our office. If you are experiencing a serious or life threatening emergency, please call 911 or visit the nearest emergency room.

Ongoing care for your restoration includes brushing your teeth and surrounding tissues after every meal and snack, and flossing at least once a day before bedtime unless you have full dentures, in which case brushing them is very important. Rinsing your mouth with water or mouthwash will also help to remove any additional particles that may have been missed during brushing and flossing.

You should visit our office at least once a year to have your dentures or partial adjusted and checked by the doctor. Wearing ill-fitting dentures or partials without proper care and adjustment can cause severe bone loss and very serious oral disease. Please call our office at the first signs of any symptoms or if you are experiencing ongoing pain or discomfort.

Please feel free to call the office with any other concerns, and after hours feel free to call Dr. Attar at 781-258-5049.

1. Please take your medications as prescribed,
2. Endodontically treated teeth tend to have prolonged post operative discomfort that can last up to two weeks. Please contact us immediately if the discomfort increases or does not subside beyond two weeks.
3. Please avoid chewing on the affected tooth, since endodontically treated teeth tend to be much more brittle and can fracture below gingival level leading to the loss of that tooth.
4. A definitive restoration such as a crown needs to be completed within a week or so to avoid such complication.
5. Please continue your normal oral hygiene routine.

Please feel free to call the office with any other concerns and after hours feel free to call Dr. Attar at 781-258-5049.

• Teeth whitening is a deep cleaning to the bores of the enamel and tends to lead to slight transient sensitivity that should subside gradually.
• For the first 48 hours, teeth are more susceptible to staining and it is best to avoid dark-colored food or beverages that can stain your teeth such as:  berries, cola or other dark sodas, red wine, coffee, tea, tobacco, ketchup, soy or other dark sauces.
• Although we try our best to prevent having the gingival tissue or the lips from contacting the gel used during the procedure, if it happens, it may lead to a slight burn that will heal within hours.
• You will be provided with trays that you can use once a month to maintain the shade attained after the procedure.

Using Your Custom Trays:

• After brushing and flossing your teeth, please apply a small amount of the provided gel only to the part of the tray that corresponds with the visible part of the teeth.
• Carefully seat the trays and gently wipe away any excess gel.
• Leave the trays for 15-20 minutes and then rinse your mouth with water.
• Avoid any colored drinks for the next 24 hours.

The aligners need to always be in use in order for teeth and bite to align properly. Please remove the aligner when eating, brushing, or flossing. If the aligners were not used for an extended period of time, you will need to make up that time, i.e. by adding time at the end of the two week period allotted to each aligner.

Please avoid washing the aligners with hot water or drinking hot beverages while wearing the aligners.

Please contact us if you lose any of the tabs applied to any of your teeth so we can reapply it. If you lose any of the aligners, please use the preceding aligner and contact us immediately.

For the first 24 hours you may experience some cold and heat sensitivity. Do not eat, drink, chew or consume hot foods or beverages until the numbness has worn off following anesthetic. Avoid vigorous physical exercise as well as foods and are extremely hot or spicy for the first 24 hours. Do not consume alcoholic beverages or smoke for at least 48 hours. Some bleeding following a deep cleaning is normal, but if you experience excessive bleeding please call our office.

You can take ibuprofen or acetaminophen according to the instructions on the label or those provided by your doctor as needed. A warm salt water rinse, approximately one teaspoon in an eight ounce glass of water, three times a day can be helpful. Brush and floss gently following a deep cleaning, resuming normal brushing and flossing when the soreness is gone.

Follow any other instructions provided by our office on your visit. Please take all medications as prescribed.