After care
What to expect after treatment, and when to call
General guidance by procedure. The written instructions you were given at the appointment are specific to your child and always take precedence over this page.
Worried right now? Call us on 403-930-0270. Outside opening hours the same number reaches our after-hours service. For a knocked-out permanent tooth, act immediately and see emergency care.
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What did your child have done?
After freezing
The most common problem after treatment, and not an easy one to prevent.
Freezing usually wears off in one to three hours. Until it does, your child cannot feel their lip, cheek or tongue, and a lot of children will chew, suck or bite the numb area out of curiosity without any idea they are hurting themselves.
The result appears a few hours later as a swollen, raw, sometimes white or bloody patch on the lip or cheek. It looks alarming and parents often think it is an infection or a reaction. It is neither. It is a bite and it heals on its own in a week or so. Lip sucking and cheek biting are genuinely hard to stop in a young child, so close supervision until the numbness has gone does more than telling them not to.
Do
- Keep an eye on them for 2 to 3 hours after treatment, especially a young child
- Soft, lukewarm food only until the numbness has completely gone
- Remind them not to bite or suck the numb side, more than once
- Check the lip and cheek before they go to sleep
Avoid
- No chewy or crunchy food while numb
- No hot drinks, since they cannot feel the heat
- Do not let a numb child nap unsupervised for 2 to 3 hours after treatment
After a filling or crown
Usually the easiest recovery of anything we do.
Your child can eat normally once any freezing has fully worn off. Some sensitivity to cold for a few days is normal and settles on its own.
Where a crown has been placed, the gum around it may be tender for a day or two and can bleed slightly when brushed. Keep brushing it gently. Leaving it alone makes the tenderness last longer.
Stainless steel and zirconia crowns behave a little differently in children than crowns do in adults. The bite can feel high straight after the appointment and usually settles over the next few days as your child uses it.
Do
- Brush and floss as normal, gently around a new crown
- Expect mild cold sensitivity for a few days
- If the bite feels high or uneven, give it a few days to settle
Avoid
- Avoid very sticky sweets for a day or two, which can pull at a new restoration
- Do not keep waiting if the bite is still high after several days. Call us then
After an extraction
The first day matters most, and mainly because of the clot.
Your child bites gently on the gauze pad for thirty to forty-five minutes after the appointment. A small amount of oozing for the rest of the day is normal, and blood mixed with saliva always looks like more than it is.
A clot forms in the socket and that clot is what heals the site. Anything that disturbs it, particularly suction, slows healing and can be painful, which is why straws are worth banning for a day.
Do
- Bite down on the gauze, gently, for thirty to forty-five minutes
- Soft cool food for the rest of the day
- Rest for the remainder of the day
- Pain relief with over the counter pain medication as set out in your written instructions, based on weight
Avoid
- No straws for twenty-four hours
- No spitting or vigorous rinsing for twenty-four hours
- No running around or sport for the rest of the day
- Do not let them poke the site with a finger or tongue
After general anesthesia
We recommend a quiet, supervised day following surgery, with a responsible adult staying with your child as they recover.
Children often wake up restless, upset or tearful, and it is very commonly the anesthetic, not pain. It settles. For the rest of the day expect drowsiness, unsteadiness on their feet and a shorter fuse than usual.
A sore throat from the breathing tube is normal and passes within a day. Mild nausea is common. Start with clear fluids, and move to light food only once those have stayed down.
Your child needs an adult with them for the whole day. Not in the next room, with them.
Do
- Clear fluids first, then light food if those stay down
- Someone with them at all times for the rest of the day
- A low-grade fever on the first evening is common. Bring it down with over the counter Tylenol, dosed as set out in your written instructions
- A quiet day at home, and expect them to sleep more than usual
- Follow the written discharge instructions you were given
Avoid
- No stairs, baths, bikes or playgrounds unsupervised
- No school or daycare on the day of the procedure. They can normally go back the next day
- No rough play, sport or swimming for the rest of the day
After nitrous oxide or oral sedation
Two very different recoveries, so check which one your child had.
After nitrous oxide, your child is back to themselves within minutes of the mask coming off. They can eat normally and usually go back to school the same day.
Oral sedation is different. The medication takes hours to clear and your child will be drowsy and unsteady well after you get home. Treat the rest of the day the same way you would after a general anesthetic: close supervision, quiet activities, nothing they could fall off.
Do
- After nitrous: back to normal, no restrictions
- After oral sedation: constant supervision for the rest of the day
- After oral sedation: light food and plenty of fluids
Avoid
- After oral sedation, no stairs, baths, bikes or playgrounds unsupervised
- Do not let a drowsy child sleep face down or propped on cushions
After fluoride varnish
Leave it where it is. That is most of the instruction.
Fluoride varnish is painted on at the end of the visit and sets on contact with saliva. The longer it stays on the teeth, the more it does, which is why we ask you not to brush it off until the next morning.
It can make the teeth feel slightly rough, or look dull or a little yellow, until it comes away. That is the coating itself and it brushes off with the first brush the next day. Fluoride varnish does not darken or stain your child’s teeth.
Do
- Soft food for the rest of the day
- Brush as normal the next morning, which takes the coating off
Avoid
- Do not brush or floss on the day the varnish is applied
- No hot drinks for a few hours
After sealants
Nothing to avoid. Your child can eat and drink straight away.
Sealants are a thin coating bonded into the grooves of the back teeth and hardened with a light before your child leaves the chair. They are set by the time the appointment ends, so there is nothing to wait for and nothing to keep off the teeth.
Your child may notice the biting surface feels slightly different for a day or two while they get used to it. Sealants do not change the colour of the tooth.
Do
- Eat and drink straight away, with no restrictions
- Brush and floss as normal that night
- Tell us if the bite still feels high after a few days
Avoid
- Avoid ice, hard candy and chewing on pens, which can chip a sealant
After silver diamine fluoride
This is the one that changes the colour of the tooth, and it is meant to.
Silver diamine fluoride is brushed onto a cavity to stop the decay getting worse. Where it has been applied, the decayed part of the tooth turns permanently dark, often close to black. That is expected. It is the treatment working, not something going wrong.
This is worth being clear about, because it is easy to assume it applies to anything painted on a tooth. It does not. Fluoride varnish and sealants do not stain teeth. Only silver diamine fluoride darkens them, and only the decayed area it was put on.
Silver diamine fluoride stops the decay progressing. It does not repair the hole, so the tooth still needs watching and may need a filling or a crown later on.
Do
- Eat and drink as normal
- Brush and floss as normal that night
- Expect the treated area to stay dark
Avoid
- Do not try to brush or scrub the dark area away
- Do not mistake it for new decay. It is the area that was treated
When to call us
Call us if you see any of these
None of these are common. All of them are worth a call.
Bleeding that will not stop
Some oozing after an extraction is normal for the rest of the day. Bleeding that soaks through fresh gauze repeatedly, or restarts heavily after it had settled, is not.
Vomiting that keeps going
After a general anesthetic, some nausea is expected. Repeated vomiting, or a child who cannot keep any fluids down, needs a phone call.
A fever above 38.5°C
A slightly raised temperature on the first evening after surgery is common. A genuine fever, or one that arrives a day or two later, is worth checking.
Swelling that is getting worse
Swelling that increases after the first day, spreads toward the eye or under the jaw, or comes with a fever needs to be seen, not watched.
Pain that is not controlled
Discomfort for a day or two is normal. Pain that the medication you were given is not touching, or that is getting worse, is not.
Anything that worries you
You know your child. If something feels wrong and it is not on this list, call anyway. We would far rather take a call that turns out to be nothing.
This page is general guidance. Your written instructions are specific to your child and to what was done, and they take precedence over anything here. If the two disagree, follow the written instructions and call us.