Dental Surgery in Children: What to Expect at Home

Allow the area to heal. Don't let your child move quickly or lift anything heavy until your child is feeling better.

Have your child rest when your child feels tired.

Your dentist may give you specific instructions on when your child can do normal activities again, such as playing sports and going back to school.

Give your child soft foods, such as gelatin, pudding, or a thin soup. Gradually add solid foods as your child heals. Your child can eat solid foods again in about a week.

If your child had a tooth pulled, don't let your child use a straw for the first few days. Sucking on a straw can loosen the blood clot that forms at the surgery site. If this happens, it can delay healing.

Your doctor will tell you if and when your child can restart any medicines. Your doctor will also give you instructions about taking any new medicines.

Be safe with medicines. Read and follow all instructions on the label.

• If the dentist gave you a prescription medicine for pain, give it to your child as prescribed.

• If your child is not taking a prescription pain medicine, ask your dentist if your child can take an over-the-counter medicine.

If your dentist prescribed antibiotics, give them to your child as directed. Do not stop giving them just because your child feels better. Your child needs to take the full course of antibiotics.

While your child's mouth is numb, give your child liquids or soft foods that don't need to be chewed. This can help prevent biting the tongue or the inside of the cheek or lip.

If your child had a tooth pulled, have your child bite gently on a gauze pad now and then. Change the pad as it becomes soaked with blood. Call your dentist if your child still has bleeding 24 hours after the surgery.

If your child had stitches in their gums, your dentist will tell you if and when your child needs to come back to have the stitches removed.

Starting 24 hours after a tooth was pulled, gently rinse your child's mouth with warm salt water several times a day to reduce swelling and relieve pain.

Have your child continue to brush their teeth and tongue carefully. Your child can floss when your dentist says it's okay.

If needed, put ice or a cold pack on your child's cheek for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. Try to do this every 1 to 2 hours for the next 3 days (when your child is awake) or until the swelling goes down. Put a thin cloth between the ice and the skin.

Your child has trouble breathing.

Your child passes out (loses consciousness).

Your child has pain that does not get better after you give your child pain medicine.

Your child has loose stitches, or the incision comes open.

Your child has new or more bleeding from the site.

Your child has symptoms of infection, such as:

• Increased pain, swelling, warmth, or redness.

• Red streaks leading from the area.

• Pus draining from the area.

• A fever.