After Local Anesthesia
Often, children do not understand the effects of local anesthesia. They may chew, scratch, suck, or play with the lip, tongue, or cheek because it is numb. These actions may cause minor irritations or they may be severe enough to cause swelling and abrasions to the tissue. Please monitor your child closely for approximately two to three hours following the appointment. It is often wise to keep your child on a liquid or soft diet until the anesthetic has worn off.
After Extractions
- Do not scratch, chew, suck, or rub the lips, tongue, or cheek while they feel numb or asleep. The children should be watched closely so they do not injure their lip, tongue, or cheek before the anesthesia wears off.
- Do not rinse the mouth for several hours.
- Do not spit excessively.
- Do not drink carbonated beverages, such as Coke, Sprite, etc. for the remainder of the day.
- Do not drink through a straw. The sucking action may remove the clot.
- Avoid acidic and salty foods and beverages, which may cause sensitivity to the extraction area.
- Keep fingers and tongue away from the extraction area as this can bring bacteria and germs to the area.
- Some bleeding is to be expected. If unusual or sustained bleeding occurs, place cotton gauze firmly over the extraction area and bite down or hold in place for fifteen minutes. This can also be accomplished with a tea bag. Repeat if necessary. Sometimes saliva mixes with a little blood and gives the illusion of more bleeding than there actually is occurring.
- Maintain a soft diet for a day or two, or until the child feels comfortable eating normally.
- Avoid strenuous exercise or physical activity after the day of the extraction.
- For discomfort, use Children’s Tylenol, Advil, or Motrin as directed for the age of the child. If a medicine was prescribed, then follow the directions on the bottle.
After Fillings, Crowns, and Space Maintainers
- Your child’s lip, cheek and /or tongue will be numb or “asleep” for about 2-3 hours. During that time, do not let your child bite, scratch, suck or pick at these areas.
- Restrict diet to liquids such as a smoothie, soup, yogurt or jello for the first 3 hours.
- Your child should chew on the opposite side of the crown or filling for the next 24 hours.
- The gums could bleed for 2-3 days. Gentle cleansing should be done with a soft toothbrush or a washcloth around the area and continue regular brushing in the other areas. If needed you can do warm salt water rinses twice a day for 3-5 days.
- DO NOT let your child chew or eat sticky foods and candy, such as gum, now or later, etc. These can pull the crown off.
- If the crown falls off call us so we can re-cement it back on immediately.