What do I need to do before surgery?
You’ll usually be advised ahead of your surgery what you should and shouldn’t do by your dentist. We always recommend keeping physical activities (such as contact sports) to a minimum during the day of surgery. This is to avoid you obtaining new injuries or complications that could disrupt your surgery.
Patients are also advised to refrain from taking aspirin (unless necessary to do so under instruction of a GP). Aspirin inhibits blood coagulation which means it thins the blood and as such, causes you to bleed for longer than normal. As your surgery is likely to involve incisions and some small levels of blood to be drawn therefore, we want to avoid complications. Other over the counter pain relief such as paracetamol or ibuprofen can be used instead.
If you are reliant on blood thinners please raise this with your dentist before surgery. You may wish to speak to your doctor in advance to make them aware of the surgery and to explore if there any alternative medications you could take beforehand.
What should I do post-surgery?
We recognise that post surgery you might be feeling a little weary and uncomfortable. Rest assured, we will always properly debrief you about how the surgery went and provide clear guidance on what you should and shouldn’t do following surgery. Every surgery is different and as such the guidance may alter, but in general we usually always recommend the following:
- Only take medication prescribed to you by the dentist treating you. This is because your dentist should be aware of your personal health, surgery, and any other medication you might be on. Not following guidance on medication exactly as prescribed could lead to potentially dangerous health complications.
- If you’re a smoker, you’ll be asked to avoid smoking for 7-14 days. Smoking can reduce the effectiveness of the surgery and harm your recovery.
- You’ll be advised to avoid drinks like alcohol, tea, coffee, or sugary/acidic drinks for 3 days following the surgery. This is to give you the very best chance of a recovery without disrupting or antagonising the area where surgery was undertaken.
- You may also be advised to avoid eating foods that could cause complications or discomfort. For example, hard or chewy foods are not advisable as they could get caught between teeth or aggravate the area we’ve operated on. Your dentist might advise you avoid fresh milk products such as cream cheese, yoghurt, and whole milk.
- Your dentist is likely to advise you try keep the area of surgery cool for at least 3 days. Cold-wet compresses and freezer packs are idea for this and should help temporarily numb the area slightly to reduce swelling or pain. Avoid placing ice directly on your skin, however, as this is likely to aggravate the area further. Avoid applying heat packs or hot water bottles to the area.
- Using disinfecting mouth wash twice a day (with a seven-hour gap between as a minimum) will help fight against the threat of infection.
- Try to avoid sleeping on the side of your face on which surgery was performed as to avoid discomfort and potentially causing any harm to the area during sleep. We advise sleeping with your head a little higher than the rest of your body e.g., using extra pillows to do so.
Emergency dental treatment
We know that even with a regular oral hygiene routine and attending regular check-ups that nothing guarantees that your teeth will always be ok. Accidents and emergencies can, and do, happen. As such we offer emergency dental treatment to new and existing patients where possible.
Find out more on our emergency dentist page or alternatively, call us directly on +44 (0) 20 3745 7455 to find out what to do next.
Finance / Costs
We always ensure that we’re very clear about estimated costs of treatment and how many sessions you can expect to undertake before seeing results. Our dentists are always happy to explore a wide variety of treatment options for different costs without compromising on ensuring you’re getting the right treatment for your oral health first.
We offer finance on several of our treatments, so please feel free to ask about these if you’d prefer to set up a payment plan rather than paying in one lump sum.
Our dental laboratory
We’re able to offer all our patients a five-year warranty on all mechanical failures (e.g., chips and cracks) on any dental productions from our dental laboratory. Our restorations are made at our in-house master dental laboratory to the highest standard using the best and most suitable materials to guarantee effectiveness, longevity, and reliability.
In the event that our laboratory is too busy we also have the ability to avoid delays by working with partner laboratories in Oxford, Munich, Augsburg and Trier.
