Surgery Involving Bone Grafting Postoperative Care

After your oral surgery procedure where a bone graft is placed, you will be given an antibiotic for 5 to 7 days. This is to protect the graft in the initial stages of healing. 

You will also have a mouthwash that has an antibiotic in it called Peridex, Perioguard, or Chlorhexidine Mouthwash. You should use this mouthwash for 2 days before your oral surgery, morning and night, and for 10 days after. Before surgery, you can swish and rinse normally with this mouthwash. After your bone grafting surgery, you should still use the mouthwash morning and night but do not swish with it as this can pull on or agitate the bone graft. 

Instead, gently tip your head side to side, let the mouthwash roll around in your mouth, lean over the sink, open your mouth and let the mouthwash fall out. 

When we put bone graft in these tooth sites, we overfill the site so that we get as much bone formation as possible. Because of this, some of the small particles that are sitting on the top of the graft site will often work their way free in the first days following the procedure. They will feel like small granules of sand on your tongue. Do not be alarmed by this, as this does not mean the graft is failing or coming out, it simply means a few of the overfilled particles on the top have worked their way free. The bulk of the graft is still retained in the socket with the stitches. 

The stitches will usually take 5-7 days to dissolve and work their way free. We place a medicine over the top of the graft to help speed healing and hold it in. This medicine is a biologic dressing and as the gum tissue heals over the top of it. You may see a white or even light-yellow color change to the tissue over the socket. This white or yellow color is normal, this is just the new gum tissue. As the tissue matures, it will turn pink like the normal gum tissue. 

Any increase in pain or swelling or foul-tasting drainage beyond the first three days after surgery is a sign of infection. You should call our office to be seen for an exam, immediately. 

Please do not hesitate to call or reach out to our clinic if you have any questions or concerns, it is our pleasure to address all your oral surgery healthcare needs.

*Women Only: Please be aware that some of the medications you can be prescribed can interact with your birth control, causing it not to work (short-term). If you are currently on birth control, please speak with your surgeon.*

**We have after-hours call coverage on the office number at all times to discuss any emergencies, questions or concerns during your pre- or post-operative care.**