How to Prepare for Maxillofacial Surgery: a Patient's Guide

There is no need to feel remorseful if scheduled for an oral surgical procedure in Toronto. Instead, you must remain calm and composed for your meeting. It is natural to feel stressed when suggested surgical procedures to remove wisdom or impacted teeth, gum, and bone grafts, et cetera.

A maxillofacial surgeon near you will provide a comprehensive guide outlining what to expect before and after your surgical procedure. The guidelines are similar regardless of which method you’re having.

We recommend reading these guidelines and learning how to prepare for maxillofacial surgery because it is a guide explicitly created by a maxillofacial surgeon.

Preparing for Your Maxillofacial Surgical Procedure

The surgical procedure suggested does not matter when preparing for the process. However, there are specific things you must do in advance to ensure the process proceeds smoothly. Your preparation starts during your consultation. Below are a few facts you must view before the surgical procedure.

Discuss Your Surgery Comprehensively:

The maxillofacial surgeon is not a scary professional who will dismiss every question you ask. Therefore, do not act as if you are scared during your consultation. Instead, start asking any questions you have about the procedure, including the anesthesia you will receive, your existing health conditions, what medications you can take or avoid, acceptance of insurance if applicable or financial plans the surgeon may offer during your meeting to have a clear view of what to envision during your time on the operating table or the dentist’s chair.

Transportation:

Driving yourself when returning from the surgeon’s office after your procedure will not be comfortable after receiving anesthesia. In addition, patients receiving general anesthesia are prohibited from driving or operating machinery for 24 to 48 hours. Anesthesia, whether local, intravenous, general or sedation, impairs your driving ability making it essential to have a family member drive you back home after your surgery. If you are receiving an intensive procedure, it helps to arrange assistance at home if you live alone.

Understand the Rules:

If you are receiving general anesthesia, the , suggests not to eat or drink from 8 to 12 hours before your surgery. If receiving other versions of anesthesia, you must limit your food intake by a few hours.

After oral surgery, dietary modifications are essential because the procedure makes it challenging for you to have your regular foods. Therefore you must prepare for your surgery by shopping ahead of time to stock your pantry with soft and nutritious foods that don’t require intense chewing after your surgery. You can have foods like yogurt, eggs, oatmeal, ice cream, and applesauce in your pantry to nourish you.

Do not include the purchase of alcohol or cigarettes for use after an operation because the surgeon explicitly advises you not to smoke or consume alcohol after any oral surgical procedure.

Now that you have prepared for your surgical procedure, you may as well start planning your recovery.

You must follow your surgeon’s guidelines to ensure you don’t complicate the recovery process to help recover smoothly.

• Take It Easy: Immediately following maxillofacial surgery, do not plan hectic activities that can stress you. Exertion and movement of your face will aggravate swelling and discomfort besides causing bleeding. Therefore prepare to rest for a day or two before considering a visit to the gym, jogging, or lifting heavy objects.
• Pain and Swelling Management: The maxillofacial surgeon will prescribe painkillers and antibiotics to help alleviate pain after oral surgery and infections from the procedure. You must take the medications as advised without skipping doses. Swelling in your face and cheeks is expected after surgeries. However, you can control it by intermittently using ice packs on your cheeks at 15-minute intervals on the day of your procedure.
• Cleaning Your Mouth: While the oral surgeon suggests not to rush near the surgical site until the wound has healed, it does not mean your mouth can remain unhealthy. After a day, you can use warm salt water rinses to clean your mouth 3 to 4 times daily, specifically after eating anything, to ensure food particles don’t remain in the mouth and are removed from the surgical site.
• Foods: After undergoing maxillofacial surgery in Toronto, you should not consider starving but keep yourself nourished by having the soft foods you stocked in your pantry for approximately ten days. You must avoid sticky and chewy foods besides scalding drinks until the anesthesia wears off. Finally, avoid alcohol consumption for at least a week after your surgery because it inhibits healing by interacting with the pain medications suggested by the maxillofacial surgeon.

Seeking Help

All surgical procedures have some risks involved and can affect anyone even if you follow the aftercare instructions to the letter T. If you develop any complication after your surgery, such as uncontrolled bleeding, signs of infection, severe pain, persistent swelling that doesn’t subside and efforts your breathing and swallowing and mouth numbness even after the anesthesia wears off contact the Toronto maxillofacial surgeon for advice because they can determine how to tackle the problem.

These guidelines can help you go through maxillofacial surgery by preparing beforehand for your surgery and healing with information on dealing with complications (if any) you may encounter. If you discuss your surgical procedure with Toronto East Maxillofacial Surgery, you will receive similar guidelines to help you with your surgical process before, during, and after. Kindly arrange a meeting with our dentist before you visit any other professional in Toronto for the surgical procedure you need.