Oral surgery is a surgical procedure that is performed in or around your jaw and mouth area. They are specific and focus on reconstructing the complications in the mouth area. Oral surgeries are of various types, such as facial trauma surgery, oral cavity surgery, and facial cosmetic surgery.

If you require surgery, your dental care team will be in the best position to advise you. Depending on the severity of your dental issues, they will either recommend surgery or other less invasive treatment options.

When do you need oral surgery?

There are many situations when surgery may be required. For example, oral surgery is performed when you need to remove a cyst or a tumor from your jaw. Also, if you need to undergo dental implants, it calls for oral surgery.

Can a dentist do oral surgery?

A dentist might be able to extract your tooth, but you need an expert when it comes to extracting a wisdom tooth or adding dental implants or any other dental complication. That is when an oral surgeon comes into play.

Top tips on how to prepare for oral surgery

Oral surgery can become easy if you are already prepared for it. If you can anticipate what you should expect shortly, you will be more relaxed and confident. As a result, you will feel stress-free and comfortable before your surgery. And this preparation has to start way before the day when you walk in for your oral surgery. So now, how will you prepare for your oral surgery?

Here are some suggestions.

Find an excellent oral surgeon

Many times, dentists are also trained in oral surgery. But your dentist may not necessarily be a surgeon as well. Find out or search for the best surgeon in your area to have a painless and good experience. You can check online or ask your friends and family about their recommendations for an excellent oral surgeon.

Understand the cost of the oral surgery

The next most important thing is knowing the approximate expenditure you might undergo in your oral surgery. Check if your dental insurance covers them. In most cases they do, but it is prudent to confirm this before starting the procedure.

Collect all important files

Before the surgery day, keep all the essential dentist prescriptions, medical papers, and other documents you require during your surgery. If you wear dentures or mouth guards, then carry them as well. Due to the surgery stress, you are likely to forget about the crucial documents on the day of surgery. Hence keeping the entire bag or file ready helps you prepare for oral surgery.

Be well informed about the procedure

Ask your dentist to explain the matter in lucid language so that you can easily understand the procedure. You must clear all your doubts beforehand, because going for surgery with doubts in your head is undesirable. Also, tell your dentist about your detailed medical history. This information is important for successful oral surgery.

Make sure you have someone with you

You will likely be sedated when you are about to undergo oral surgery. In such a condition, you might not be in your complete senses. Hence, you will need someone to be with you, help you go home. You can’t drive a car on your own due to drowsiness and hazy vision. Going via public transport will also not every safe since you will have to walk through the road and you might encounter hindrances. If you fail to get someone to help you, you can wait until you feel comfortable stepping out at the dentist’s clinic.

Eat light meals before the surgery

You should not be eating or drinking too much just before your oral surgery is supposed to take place. Since you will probably be undergoing sedation, if you have had a heavy meal previously, it might increase your aspiration risk.

This aspiration risk is a rare, but if it happens, severe complication can occur during anaesthesia. Your lungs might get filled with your stomach’s content in this condition. Hence to prevent this from happening, the best is if you can undergo fasting from the night before your surgery. If you need to consume medicines before the surgery, it is advisable to have them with small sips of water.

Start eating food that improves oral health

Though all food is good for oral health, milk-based products like milk, cheese, or yogurt are suitable for the teeth and gums. In addition, celery and other crunchy vegetables are also good for the teeth and gums. Hence, you should add these to your diet before a month of your surgery.

Wear short sleeved clothes

Just before the surgery takes place, you will be sedated. Also, when you have to take your vital signs or your IV, all this will require you to roll up your sleeves and expose your bare arms for the injections. In addition, you might have blood pressure cuffs put on you just before or during the surgery, and all these require you to expose your arms. If you wear long-sleeved clothes, constantly rolling up your sleeves will be troublesome and might make you feel uncomfortable.

Reach early on surgery day

Even if you strive to maintain a calm demeanour, there will always be an underlying stress that you feel. You cannot eliminate this stress, but you can efficiently manage it. Try to reach the venue about an hour before your surgery. You can sit and relax and then complete all your paperwork at ease.

You should ask the nurse or the surgeon if you have any questions regarding your oral surgery.

Conclusion

It is not uncommon to experience an incredible amount of anxiety and stress when undergoing any surgery. Though oral surgery might seem to be a minor one, it also involves complications. Hence, you must be well prepared, mentally and physically, before your surgery day. If you need more time to prepare yourself, ask your surgeon to delay the procedure a little if that is possible.