Exercise such as jogging, swimming, and tennis should be discontinued for 48 hours after surgery. This is to reduce the risk of postoperative bleeding that might interfere with proper healing of the graft tissue.
Most oral surgeons advise patients to avoid physical exertion for the first 24 hours after surgery. Exercise can lead to an increase in blood pressure, which can cause the extraction site to bleed. Worst of all, the blood clot that grows in the extraction area after surgery may be dislodged, leading to dry socket.
AVOID PEROXIDE, ALCOHOL, CARBONATED BEVERAGES, AND DRINKING THROUGH A STRAW. After 24 Hours. You may have soft foods, such as cooked vegetables, fish, pasta, and meatloaf, which are easily chewed. You should use utensils and avoid chewing at the surgical site for 2 weeks.
You could dislodge the healing tissue and compromise the success of the graft. Do not pull your lip away to view the graft site.
Exercise: Avoid strenuous exercise or lifting weights for the 1st week after surgery. You may walk or ride a bike carefully.
If your gum graft failed, you'll probably notice a large patch of white tissue that has come off of your tooth. Its lack of color means that the gum graft lost blood supply and is dying.
Most swelling can occur in the morning and up to 3 days after surgery. Avoid sleeping / laying on the side that surgery was performed.
3rd day until 2 weeks after surgery: A very soft food diet should only be eaten (Pasta, soups, eggs, fish, cooked soft vegetables, oatmeal, rice, beans etc.) Avoid any hard, spicy, crusty, coffee or acidic foods.
The third day after surgery, a soft food diet can be started where you can enjoy pasta, fish, soup, mashed potatoes, rice, eggs, cooked soft vegetables, or oatmeal. Avoid chewing on the surgical site side of the mouth.
Is pain normal after a gum graft surgery? While a gum graft procedure isn't considered major surgery, it does require some recovery time and short-term modifications to your diet. The procedure typically takes tissue from the roof of the mouth, also known as the palate.
Sutures (stitches) will usually have to be removed approximately 10 days to 2 weeks following your surgery. Do not disturb the sutures with your tongue, toothbrush or any other device. Displacement of sutures will impair healing and affect the success of your procedure.
Beware: The consequences of going too hard
Doing overly vigorous or strenuous exercises too soon following a surgical procedure can be detrimental to the body's healing process. Working out too hard and too soon can result in unnecessary bruising, swelling, fluid buildup, wound separation, and possibly infection.
On the first two days after a procedure, patients should rest and avoid all strenuous activities. For minor surgical procedures most patients can resume light exercise at 3-5 days after surgery while for major surgeries, patients can generally resume exercise after 5-7 days.
Avoid strenuous activities such as biking, jogging, weightlifting, or aerobic exercise. After surgery, you may feel constipated or nauseous. Although you may not be hungry or want to eat, it is important to eat a healthy diet that promotes healing.
Your oral surgeon will use plenty of anesthetic and possibly sedation to keep you as comfortable as possible. These can take some time to wear off in some cases, which can cause you to feel tired for the rest of the day.
Some patients may take a long time to complete the gum graft healing stages. Other patients' gum tissues take 4-8 weeks to heal completely. The healing time will also be determined by how much tissue was extracted from the patient's mouth roof and its thickness and area.
Don't brush the grafting area or otherwise disturb it during the first week of healing. During the second week after surgery, use an extra-soft toothbrush that your dentist provides, a special brush for post-operative cleaning for use ONLY around the area where the graft was placed.
Warm salt water rinses (teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water) can be used 4-5 times a day best after meals. This usually speeds up the healing and provides a comfortable feeling to your tissues.
Avoid Talking (As Much As Possible)
Talking causes your mouth's muscles to stretch, which, in turn, can loosen up the gauze and increase the chances of bleeding. Refraining from speaking is hard, but try to remain silent as much as possible for the first two to three days after gum grafting surgery.
Yes, gum grafts fail sometimes. Understanding what causes failure is critical to understanding how to achieve success. Many of the factors that lead to failure are the same things that lead to gum recession in the first place.
It will get red and puffy, then white or gray with sloughing for up to two weeks. The tissue will change to pink or the natural color of your gums as the area heals.
For soft tissue “gum” grafts, the site(s) may appear white during the healing process (up to 2 weeks), this is normal and not a sign of infection. The tissue will change to a pink color as it heals.
WHAT DOES A FAILED SKIN GRAFT LOOK LIKE? Compromised or failed skin grafts are characterized by continuous pain, numbness, fever, discoloration, redness, swelling, or a breakdown of tissue. The most obvious sign of an unhealthy skin graft is darkening skin that lacks the pink appearance of healthy skin.