Surgical Instructions

After Socket Bone Graft

Your socket bone graft is made up of many tiny particles. You may find some small granules in your mouth for the first several days. Do not be alarmed. It's normal to have some of them come out of the socket and be found in your mouth. There are some things you could do to minimize the amount of particles that become dislodged:

1. Do not disturb or touch the wound with your finger or tongue.

2. Avoid rinsing or spitting for 2 days to allow blood clot and graft material stabilization.

3. Do not use your tongue or finger to "play" with the grafted area. The material is mobile during the initial healing and will easily dislodge from your socket.

4. Do not lift or pull on your lip to look at the stitches. This can actually cause damage to the wound site and tear the sutures.

5. Do not smoke.

6. Following the second day, GENTLY rinse your mouth with salt water but not too vigorously as you can disturb some of the bone graft materials. If a partial denture or "flipper" was placed in your mouth, you may need to see your dentist to have it adjusted and learn how to remove and replace it appropriately.

7. If your doctor has placed a non-resorbable barrier over your socket graft with non dissolvable sutures, you will be required to return to our office two weeks after surgery for suture removal and then again at three weeks for membrane removal.