How to Help Someone Recover After Dental Surgery

If a friend or family member has recently had oral surgery, you might be wondering how you can help them recover.  There are many things that you can do to help them stay comfortable and recover more quickly.  From helping them with housework so that they can rest to feeding them healthy foods, there are many ways that you can help.

Help make them comfortable.  Physical comfort goes a long way to helping someone recover.  Be sure that they have a comfortable place to rest along with some pillows to prop their head up and soft blankets to keep them warm.

Allow them to rest.  Rest is a key element to helping the body heal after surgery.  Take care of household chores and tasks, and help your friend care for their pets and children.  This will ease their mind and allow them to get some quality rest.

Remind them to take their medication.  Many doctors prescribe some type of pain killers for patients who have had oral surgery.  Remind your loved one to take their pain killers immediately, before the Novocain has worn off and the pain has set in.  Acetaminophen can be a great help in easing pain, along with any prescribed medication.  Avoid giving the patient aspirin, which thins the blood and can increase bleeding after surgery.

Feed them healthy food.  Good nutrition is essential to recovery.  It will be difficult to eat after oral surgery, so concentrate on providing soft, nutrient-rich foods.  Foods such as soup broths, soft fruits and vegetables, yogurt and applesauce can provide the nutrients a person needs to heal while not irritating their mouth during the recovery process.

Take them to all follow up appointments.  A great way to help is to accompany them to their post-surgery follow up appointments.  It can be nice to have the support of a friend or family member while you are recovering.  Driving your friend to the appointment will be greatly appreciated, as will making notes about their recovery process and any directions that they need to follow.