How should you use these instructions?
Read them twice: once a few days ahead, and again the night before. The anesthesia instructions affect what you can eat and drink and who takes you home, and those are hard to arrange on the morning of surgery. The aftercare pages are worth saving to your phone or printing, because the first evening after a procedure is when questions tend to come up.
These are general instructions. If Dr. Prane gives you different directions for your own case, follow hers, and ask at your appointment about anything that isn’t clear.
When should you call the office after surgery?
Call when recovery isn’t following the expected pattern. Some oozing, swelling and soreness are normal for the first two or three days. Bleeding that keeps soaking gauze after firm pressure, swelling that increases after the third day, a fever, pus, a bad taste that won’t rinse away, or pain that worsens after it had started to ease all deserve a call to (618) 624-2800.
For difficulty breathing or swallowing, or swelling spreading toward the eye or down the neck, go to the emergency room or call 911 first, then let us know. Our dental emergencies page covers other urgent problems, and the office hours are on the contact page.