Excellent oral hygiene practices like brushing, flossing, and routine dental checkups are effective ways to maintain a healthy, beautiful, and functional smile.
However, if you have gum disease, your dentist can recommend scaling and root planing to restore your gum health. This guide provides an in-depth overview of things you must avoid after scaling and root planing procedures to ensure optimal recovery and oral health.
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What is Dental Scaling and Root Planing?
It’s a non-surgical procedure for treating gum or periodontal disease. The procedure can be performed on single or multiple appointments based on the severity of your condition. A local anesthetic is used to minimize discomfort during the procedure.
Dental scaling and root planing involve more than your regular professional cleanings. It’s also known as deep cleaning as it involves scrabbling off plaque and tartar from the teeth surfaces and deep under the gum line.
The root surfaces are also smoothened to prevent further bacteria buildup and promote gum healing and reattachment to the teeth. The dentist can use a manual or ultrasonic scaler or lasers to perform deep cleaning.
Things Not To Do After Deep Cleaning
Your oral health isn’t automatically restored after your treatment. Proper aftercare promotes speedy healing and recovery and prevents new infections. Below are things to avoid after deep cleaning to maximize the success of your treatment and minimize discomfort:
- Avoid eating while your mouth is numb.
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After your treatment, it might take a while for anesthesia to wear off completely. Eating when your mouth is numb can cause you to hurt your gums, lips, cheek, and tongue, delaying overall healing and worsening your discomfort. Wait until the anesthesia wears off completely to eat.
- Avoid eating certain foods.
After deep cleaning, your gums and mouth will feel tender and sensitive. It’s therefore important to avoid eating hard, crunchy, hot, cold, chewy, spicy, and acidic foods and beverages as they can irritate your gums and worsen your discomfort.
Similarly, avoid a diet high in sugars as they can cause bacteria growth and plaque in the mouth, encouraging new infections. Instead, opt for easy-to-chew and cool foods to prevent irritating the gums.
- Don’t use tobacco products.
It’s important to quit tobacco products about 72 hours before and after your deep cleaning. Tobacco contains hundreds of toxins that can interfere with gum healing, increasing your risk of infections and worsening gum disease. Quitting tobacco altogether is more beneficial for your overall oral and overall health.
- Don’t disrupt blood clots.
After deep cleaning, avoid touching the treated areas with your finger, brush, tongue, or toothpick. Disturbing the area can cause unnecessary bleeding, swelling, and pain, delaying healing and increasing your risk of infections.
- Don’t neglect proper hydration.
Drinking enough water and fluids after deep cleaning is essential for optimal gum healing. Proper hydration also helps clean bacteria and debris from the mouth, encouraging healing and reducing the risk of infections.
- Don’t neglect oral hygiene.
While you must avoid disturbing your mouth after deep cleaning, proper hygiene is essential to prevent bacteria and plaque build-up, which can cause delayed healing and new infections. Follow your dentist’s instructions about brushing and flossing.
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Ensure you use a soft brush and consider a desensitizing toothpaste to minimize discomfort. You can rinse with salt water rinses to minimize the risk of infections. Avoid alcoholic mouthwash as it can irritate your gums and delay healing.
- Avoid aggressive brushing and flossing.
While proper hygiene is essential to prevent new infections in the treated gums, you must avoid aggressive brushing or flossing as it can irritate or hurt the already sensitive gums, worsening your discomfort, bleeding, and delaying healing. Be gentle while cleaning your teeth and gums for a speedy and efficient recovery.
- Avoid alcohol consumption.
Like tobacco, alcohol consumption after deep cleaning can delay healing and promote infections. For instance, alcohol can cause a dry mouth, encouraging delayed healing and bacterial infections. Alcohol can also interact with your medications, making them less effective.
- Don’t skip medications.
After deep cleaning, your dentist can prescribe medication to minimize pain, swelling, and infections. Ensure you take all the medication as prescribed, as skipping or discontinuing can lead to complications and lower the success of your procedure.
- Avoid physical activity.
After deep cleaning, rest adequately for about 24-48 hours to allow your mouth to heal. Vigorous activities can cause increased blood pressure in the treated area, leading to unnecessary bleeding, worsening discomfort, and delayed healing.
- Don’t ignore persistent or worsening symptoms.
While minor side effects like swelling, pain, and bleeding are normal after deep cleaning, persistent or worsening symptoms could indicate a complication and should not be ignored. Contact our dentist for further evaluation and treatment.
Get Scaling and Root Planing in Sharon, MA.
Scaling and root planing are essential to stop the progression of gum disease and promote healthy gums and overall oral health. For more information about deep cleaning, contact Sharon Dental Group to book your appointment today.
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