Bone Grafting
Post-Operative Instructions for Bone Grafting
Your bone graft is made up of many particles. You may find some small granules in your mouth for the first several days. Do not be alarmed by these. The socket is over packed to allow for the loss of a small amount of particles. It is normal to have some of them come out of the graft site and into your mouth. There are some things that can be done to minimize the amount of particles that become dislodged.
- Do not vigorously rinse or spit for 3 to 5 days.
- Do not avoid cleaning the area. Most times the sutures that are placed are dissolvable sutures that will dissolve in up to twelve days.
- Do not apply pressure with your tongue or fingers to the grafted area because the material is movable during the initial healing.
- Avoid chewing hard foods on the graft sites. Chewing forces during the healing phase can decrease the body’s ability to heal around the graft.
- Do not lift or pull the lip to look at the sutures; this can actually cause damage to the wound site and tear the sutures. Avoid poking the site with your tongue.
- Do not use any over the counter mouth rinse during any part of the healing process. You may rinse with warm salt water or a mouth rinse prescribed by our office.
- It is highly recommended to discontinue smoking for a minimum of one week after your procedure.
- For the first day, it is advisable to let the blood clot stabilize by not rinsing your mouth. Following the first day, gentle rinsing would be advised; avoid vigorous rinsing because you can still disturb some of the bone graft granules. If a partial denture or a flipper was placed in your mouth, you will probably have to see your restorative dentist to have it adjusted and learn how to remove and replace it appropriately.
- If a CollaPlug was placed during your procedure it will come out several days later. As the sutures begin to heal and dissolve, the plug will come out. This is normal and to be expected.