What to do before/after a surgical procedure

Dear patient,

During dental surgery, there are a few rules of conduct to follow to support the healing process and avoid possible complications.

Our tips before the operation:

• If a local anaesthetic is used, you can eat and drink as usual before your appointment.
• Before the procedure, please tell us about all medications and natural remedies you are currently taking or have recently taken.
• Avoid taking painkillers containing acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), such as Aspirin®, at least seven days beforehand. If you have to take aspirin or other blood-thinning medication regularly due to heart disease, for example, please consult us and your GP. Under no circumstances should you stop taking these medications on your own!
• If prophylactic antibiotics are required before the procedure, it is important that you take these medications in accordance with our instructions. This can prevent (rarely occurring) serious bacterial infections.

Please observe the following rules of conduct after the surgical procedure

Food and drink

Do not eat anything until the local anaesthetic has worn off. This will prevent possible bite wounds or scalding. Chew on the untreated side, and avoid direct contact with the wound.

Please avoid hot, very cold, spicy or acidic foods. Cakes and sweets can also have a negative impact on healing. Cooked, soft food is recommended.

Do not drink alcohol or smoke. This could affect the healing process.

Bleeding and post-operative bleeding

Since a surgical procedure always involves a wound in the oral cavity, subsequent bleeding may occur. The bleeding can be stopped with a sterile gauze bandage or a clean cloth handkerchief by placing it on the wound and biting down gently. Avoid sporting activities and heat. When sleeping, keep your head in a higher or upright position.

If the bleeding continues, contact our surgery or the dental emergency service. In any case, you should avoid sucking on the wound, spitting frequently and rinsing, since this can disrupt the healing process.

Pain

Mild pain is possible after oral surgery. This should subside within one to two days at the latest. To support this, you can take pain-relieving medication that is recommended by us or your pharmacist. Avoid painkillers with blood-thinning active ingredients, such as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), which is contained in Aspirin®, for example. These can cause or increase subsequent bleeding.

In the unlikely event that more severe, throbbing pain occurs after one to three days, please contact our surgery or the dental emergency service immediately. This may indicate that there is an infection which needs to be treated. However, complications are relatively rare!

Swelling or bruising

Swelling may occur due to surgically irritated oral mucosa or tissue and is aggravated by heat within the first 48 hours. Do not expose yourself to unnecessary heat. Cool the affected area of the mouth for about 15 minutes at a time, taking a break of about five minutes in between. Cooling pads or crushed ice cubes in a plastic bag wrapped in towels are ideal sources of cold.

If swelling occurs again, please contact us for follow-up treatment.

Oral hygiene and tooth brushing

Brush your teeth carefully. However, avoid the wound to avoid mechanical irritation caused by the toothbrush.

Rinsing

Mouthwashes can help with oral hygiene and reduce the risk of wound infection. We will recommend an appropriate solution if necessary. However, you should only use mouthwashes occasionally: Constant rinsing or suction at the wound site can cause irritation and slow down the healing process.

After eating, you can rinse your mouth with boiled water or unsweetened chamomile tea. This will provide better cleaning of the wound.

Driving and operating machinery

Your ability to react can be affected by local anaesthesia, particularly if you have had a general aesthetic. Your ability to drive and operate machinery will therefore be impaired! Have someone pick you up after the procedure. If you wish, we would also be happy to call you a taxi.

Follow-up appointment

Follow-up appointments at appropriate intervals are essential for wound monitoring. This allows possible inflammatory processes to be avoided or detected at an early stage. If necessary, we will remove the stitches or wound dressings, or rinse the wound.

Please call us or come to our surgery if you have any problems or are unsure about anything! In the unlikely event that you experience inflammation or problems with wound healing, we can treat you at an early stage.

In urgent cases outside of our office hours, please contact the dental emergency service.

We wish you a speedy recovery!

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Five tips for a healthy diet

Brushing your teeth thoroughly at least twice a day and using dental floss or interdental brushes is usually enough to keep your teeth healthy in the long term. But nutrition also plays a part. Here are our tips for a tooth-healthy diet:

1. Chocolate, cakes etc.: It's better to eat everything at once instead of constantly snacking

Are you one of those people for whom sweets are simply a part of life? To protect your teeth, you should particularly avoid snacking too frequently. It is better to eat your daily ration all at once, e.g. after a main meal. This also applies to acidic foods and drinks such as apples, coca-cola, lemonade or wine. The acid which they contains attacks tooth enamel. It is therefore better to treat yourself to a large glass every now and then instead of drinking lemonade to quench your thirst.

2. Brushing your teeth after eating: Wait for about 30 minutes

Brushing your teeth after every main meal is basically a good idea. However, you should wait for a while before reaching for your toothbrush. Many foods contain acids which soften the tooth enamel somewhat. After about half an hour it has regenerated, and you can brush your teeth safely.

3. Good protection: Our saliva

Saliva is responsible for the recovery of tooth enamel. It surrounds the teeth and cleans them a little. The minerals contained in foods such as cheese or milk dissolve in saliva, and are incorporated into the tooth structure.

Our tip:

If you can't brush your teeth at lunchtime in the office: Take a sugar-free chewing gum or sweet to stimulate saliva production.

Important:

Are you taking medication that causes a “dry” mouth? This can increase your individual risk of tooth decay. Talk to us. We will tell you about prophylactic options.

4. Hardening the tooth enamel: Foods and dairy products containing fluoride

Fluoride hardens tooth the enamel and makes it less vulnerable to acids. This mineral is found in fish, black tea, fluoridated table salt and some mineral waters. If you don't like these foods: Tooth decay can also be prevented by using appropriate mouthwashes, fluoride gel and fluoride toothpaste.

Dairy products are also recommended, because they contain plenty of calcium. This is the material that teeth primarily consist of.

5. Raw vegetables, wholemeal bread and nuts: Great workout for the jaw muscles

Whole foods have two advantages: On the one hand, they does not contain any simple sugars that are easily digestible by decay bacteria, and on the other hand, they gives your teeth and jaw muscles a lot of work to do. This stimulates saliva production and strengthens the gums. So why not just reach for a carrot instead of a chocolate bar?

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Tips for oral hygiene and dental health at home

Dear patient,

Diet, dental check-ups and systematic dental care play a particularly important part in keeping your teeth healthy.

What it includes:

A tooth-healthy diet

• Avoid simple sugars, such as those found in sweets and soft drinks, because they help the decay bacteria to produce the acids that attack tooth enamel. If you don't want to give up snacking, it's better to eat a few sweets at once rather than small amounts throughout the day.
• Only consume acidic foods such as citrus fruits or drinks such as coca-cola or juice in moderation. If these are consumed in excess, they can lead to so-called “erosion”, i.e. acid-related tooth damage. Unsweetened teas, mineral water and milk are good tooth-friendly drinks.
• If you have consumed acidic foods or drinks, you should wait for about half an hour before brushing your teeth.
• Saliva neutralizes damaging acids. One way of stimulating saliva production is to chew sugar-free gum. This is useful if you don't have the opportunity to brush your teeth after lunch, for example.

Tooth care

• It is crucial to adopt a systematic approach when it comes to dental care. Brush your teeth at least twice a day for about three minutes.
• The bristles of the toothbrush should be soft to medium hard and rounded. This ensures that the tooth surfaces are cleaned properly and the gums are not damaged. If you have a good brushing technique, electric and manual toothbrushes are both suitable. We would be pleased to give you some advice at our surgery.
• A wide variety of toothpastes are available, and have a basically similar composition. The thing that matters is how much fluoride the toothpaste contains. This mineral hardens the tooth enamel. A concentration of 1000 to 1500 ppm (parts per million) is recommended for adults. Whitening toothpastes are less suitable. These can cause tooth damage in the case of early decay and exposed tooth necks.
• Only about 70 percent of the tooth surface can be reached with a toothbrush alone. To thoroughly clean the spaces between your teeth, you require dental floss or interdental brushes. We would be pleased to show you how to use them properly.
• Mouthwashes can also protect teeth and prevent gum disease. If you want to use a solution like this as well, make sure that it is fluoridated and, if possible, does not contain high concentrations of disinfecting active ingredients (e.g. chlorhexidine). These ingredients can lead to tooth discolouration and affect your taste. We would be pleased to give you a recommendation, just ask us.

Do you have any questions? We will be glad to help you, of course, just talk to us.

See you soon!

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Dental health during pregnancy

Pregnancy causes many changes to your body – also in terms of your dental and oral health. We would like to accompany you and your child through this time, and provide you with some tips on how to protect your teeth during pregnancy, and make a contribution to the healthy development of your child at the same time.

Prevention – as early as possible

An initial preventive examination is recommended before or at the beginning of a pregnancy – we can check whether your teeth are free of decay, whether all of your fillings are still intact or whether periodontitis (inflammation of the periodontal tissue) is present.

Tooth care

Regular and thorough dental care is particularly important during pregnancy. Due to the hormonal changes in the body, the tissue, including the mouth, receives more blood and the firmness of the connective tissue is reduced. This increases the risk of bleeding gums and gum inflammation, often leading to the development of what is known as pregnancy gingivitis (gingiva = gums).

Nutrition

Eating habits often change during pregnancy – typical examples include food cravings or an increased desire for sweets. A balanced diet is important for your health – lots of fresh vegetables and fruit, and also dairy products. If you want to eat something sweet, it is better to snack once a day rather than throughout the day. This prevents the bacteria in your mouth from receiving a constant supply of new food – your saliva can restore the normal pH value (acidity) in your mouth and neutralise decay acids in a better way.

Treatments and X-rays

We usually postpone dental treatment until after pregnancy in order not to place unnecessary strain on the health of the mother and the child. However, in cases of acute toothache or periodontitis (inflammation of the periodontal tissue), immediate treatment is advisable – several dental studies have shown that patients with periodontitis have an increased risk of reduced birth weight of the child or, in rare cases, even premature birth.

X-rays are only taken if they are absolutely necessary for diagnosis. However, the potential risk for your child is extremely low, since the X-ray machine is only directed at the relevant tooth area, and your body is covered with a lead apron.

Our tips:

• Arrange for preventive examinations at an early stage – ideally when you are planning to become pregnant or at the beginning of a pregnancy.
• Make sure that you maintain particularly thorough oral hygiene.
• Do your gums bleed frequently? Please make an appointment in our surgery to clarify the causes.
• Regular professional teeth cleaning is recommended. This removes bacterial deposits, also in places that you cannot reach yourself.
• Use a fluoride mouthwash (without alcohol)
• Certain painkillers should not be taken during pregnancy. We would be pleased to recommend suitable medication if necessary.
• If you vomit, wait for about half an hour before brushing your teeth. Stomach acid attacks tooth enamel – if you brush your teeth immediately, you could damage them. It would be better to rinse your mouth with water or a mouthwash containing fluoride.

Do you have any further questions? Please contact us, we would be glad to advise you!

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After bleaching - tips for long-term white teeth

Dear patient,

We have performed a bleaching procedure on you. You must be pleased with your beautiful white teeth at the moment. To ensure that your bright tooth colour lasts as long as possible, we have put together some tips for you below:

Immediately after bleaching

The bleaching treatment removes moisture from your teeth. This is harmless; your teeth will reabsorb the lost fluid over the next 24 hours. They darken slightly during this process.

However, during this time your teeth are more susceptible to external influences; for example, colour pigments can become embedded in the tooth enamel. For this reason, you should avoid all colouring foods during this time: These include, for example, coca-cola and other soft drinks, coffee, any kind of tea, red wine, mustard, ketchup and other sauces. Do not smoke, and use a white toothpaste without stripes. Avoid mouthwashes, since these are usually coloured.

You can safely rely on the following light foods: Water, milk and dairy products, fruits such as bananas or peeled apples, pasta, white rice and potatoes.

As a result of the bleaching, your teeth may occasionally be somewhat more sensitive for a few days, but this usually goes away quickly on its own. We can apply a fluoride gel to support your treatment or recommend a suitable product. You can also use a toothpaste for sensitive teeth for the next two weeks.

Tips for permanently white teeth

The length of time for which your bleaching will last depends on the individual condition of your teeth, your age and, last but not least, your lifestyle habits. There are a few things you can do to maintain your brilliant white teeth:

• Regular professional teeth cleaning is recommended. This removes all plaque and discoloured deposits on your teeth and in the gaps between your teeth. This also provides good protection against tooth decay and gingivitis.
• Colouring components from foods such as coffee, tea or red wine can become deposited in the teeth again over time, but particularly cigarette smoke can discolour your teeth again. It is therefore advisable to smoke little or not at all and to limit your coffee, tea or red wine consumption.

Under favourable conditions, your teeth can retain their new, white colour for several years. If they darken at a later date, they can easily be lightened again.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us personally.

Your surgery team

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