Post Treatment Care

Post Treatment Care After Common Dental Procedures

A pedodontist is trained to help you and your child understand and feel empowered regarding their oral health care, and they are indispensable in their care of pediatric patients. The training of our care team regarding appropriate interactions with infants, toddlers, children, adolescents, and teens will also help make each encounter a positive experience. The preoperative evaluation and postoperative care of your child undergoing a pediatric dental procedure, while sometimes overlooked or considered of less importance, is vital to the outcome and success of that procedure. During the preoperative evaluation of your child, it is wise to review the expected post treatment care, limitations, and requirements. If Smile Time Kids reviews the potential issues before the procedure, then you and your child are not as alarmed or upset if common complications develop.

The entire staff at Smile Time Kids LOVES children. We want to help you in making well-informed decisions for your child’s health and well-being. We enjoy their budding personalities and their constant search for answers. We are a compassionate, caring, and patient team when working with your child. Their young smiles are important to us. Call us today at 765-373-3100 with any questions you have regarding your child or stop by Smile Time Kids at 1002 Oak Drive, Richmond, IN, 47374.

The Administration of a Local Anesthetic

Your child has had a local anesthetic for a required dental treatment. If Smile Time Kids has provided treatment on the lower jaw, then the tongue, lower teeth, and surrounding tissues will be numb. If the procedure was done on the upper jaw, then the lip, upper teeth, and surrounding tissues will be numb. On the average, the anesthetic will wear off in approximately two hours after leaving our office. Your child may not understand the effects of the local anesthetic. Please watch your child closely for the two hours following the appointment. Make sure your child does not bite, suck, pick at their lips or rub their cheek. These actions can cause injury and pain after the numbness has worn off. It is recommended that your child stay on a liquid diet until the numbness is gone.

Post Treatment Care After These Common Dental Procedures Requiring an Anesthetic

  • Tooth Restorations (Fillings)- A silver filling will not become hard enough to chew on for about six hours. Avoid giving your child anything hard or crunchy on the treated area of the mouth for 24 hours. If you have a composite, white filling, it is OK for them to eat normally after the appointment.
  • Stainless Steel Crowns, Porcelain Crowns, and Space Maintainers- These treatment appliances and devices can be dislodged or cracked easily with hard, chewy, sticky foods like caramels and jaw breakers, for example. Carbonated beverages, soda pop, will harm the integrity of the cement, which could result in the stainless-steel crown or porcelain crown falling off. If the device falls off, keep it, and call Smile Time Kids so that it may be recemented. It is important that we recement as soon as possible because teeth move very quickly. Within a short period of time, enough damage can occur such that a new appliance will be necessary. 
  • Tooth Extractions- If Smile Time Kids has removed a tooth, your child needs to be watched closely due to the numbness. They cannot swish and spit. Spitting is to be avoided for one week to avoid a dry socket and increased pain. They cannot drink anything carbonated or drink through a straw for 24 hours. To control bleeding, fold a gauze square in fourths, place over the extraction site and have them bite firmly. Change the gauze, as necessary. If the bleeding persists longer than 20 minutes, place a moist tea bag on the extraction site and have them bite firmly. Check again in 15 minutes. If bleeding heavily, call our office. Pain can be controlled with Children's Advil or Children's Tylenol.
  • Tooth Sealants- With normal wear, about 10% of dental sealants placed are lost within 1 year. Sealants are Smile Time Kids biggest preventative tools against tooth decay, and they need to be checked and maintained on a regular basis. Avoid sticky, chewy foods, caramels, taffy, tootsie rolls, etc., for these foods have the potential to pull the sealant out. Avoid allowing them to chew ice because this may fracture the sealant.
  • Fluoride Varnish Treatment- We may recommend this fluoride be applied to your child's teeth after a cleaning. Saliva hardens the fluoride varnish. This type of fluoride has a six-hour treatment time. Have your child avoid crunchy foods that will chip off the fluoride coating, chips, granola, etc. Your child may eat and drink right away after having this fluoride treatment.
  • Foam Fluoride Treatment- Do not eat or drink anything for 30 minutes.

Make an Appointment for Your Child Today!

Smile Time Kids would like to share the recommendations of The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. They suggest bringing your child in for their first dental appointment as soon as their first tooth erupts or by the time your child is one, whichever occurs first. We will work with your child and treat them like family. We love happy and healthy children. Afterwards, children should visit at normal intervals just like you would schedule your own dental checkups. Call 765-373-3100 today to make an appointment with Smile Time Kids. Our office is located at 1002 Oak Drive, Richmond, IN 47374. Let us keep your child healthy together.