What to expect during the consultation

• Review of the child's medical, dental and social history.
• Limited oral examination to determine if General Anesthesia is justified.
• Going over the type of dental treatments and special instructions to follow before surgery.

What to expect after the consultation

• Our team will call you within a week to schedule your child's dental surgery.
• The surgery center and anesthesia team will also call you with some important information regarding the surgery.

For your child's safety, you must follow the instructions below prior to surgery:

• Let us know of any change in your child's health condition ASAP! .Such as Fever, ear infection, upper respiratory infection (cough, running nose, sore throat etc), or recent head trauma.
• Nothing to eat or drink after midnight and must keep an empty stomach until after surgery. Fasting decreases the risk of vomiting and aspirating stomach contents.
• Dress your child in loose-fitting, comfortable clothing. Bring an extra pair of clothing.
• If you will be traveling home by automobile or if you must bring any other children with you to this appointment, it is preferable to have two adults accompany the patient home.
• Every effort should be made to Not miss the surgery appointment to avoid delay in treatment and disease progression (worsening). Let us know in advance if you have to reschedule due to family/personal emergency and/or changes to your child's health condition. Please call Liz in advance so we can appropriately reschedule your child and avoid delays.
• A No-show, “broken appointment”, without advance notice will result in a fee up to $300 and risk of not being able to reschedule in a timely manner. This is because of the effort, personnels, and equipment necessary to treat your child gently and safely.

During and After surgery:

• You, as the legal caregiver, must remain at the office throughout the surgery. You may not leave the office for any reason. Additionally, you must monitor your child for the remainder of the day.
• Immediately after surgery, the doctor will come talk to you about exactly what took place during the surgery and instructions to follow after surgery.
• We will evaluate your child's health status before discharge. Children recover from anesthesia at different rates. Be prepared to remain at our office until we have determined your child is stable.
• At discharge, your child may be drowsy, sleepy, crying, cranky or fussy. All normal. Take your child home, rest, and check on them often. No school or physical activities for the remainder of the day.
• Your child may experience some discomfort/irritation of the mouth (especially if extractions and/or crowns were performed) and throat (from breathing tube). Children's Tylenol or Motrin will help.
• We will follow up later in the day, and the next day to see how your child is doing.

At home instructions :

• Discomfort from the mouth (surgery site) and throat (breathing tube) may occur - give the usual Children's Motrin or Tylenol, as needed.
• Cold snacks (popsicles) help with the discomfort as well.
• Plenty of clear liquids (water, apple juice etc), minimizing the risk of a fever (a common side effect of anesthesia.)
• Soft food; apple sauce, soft noodles, soft rice, mac & cheese, soups etc.
• Avoid fatty and greasy food for the next 2-3 days.
• If crowns and space maintainers were placed, avoid hard, chewy and/or sticky food to avoid damaging them.
• If teeth were extracted, avoid using a straw, eating small grainy food (i.e rice), and forceful spitting to allow for the site to heal.
• Keep the surgery site (entire mouth) clean.
• If your child will not let you brush today, it's okay. Just use a clean wet cloth/gauze to wipe their teeth and gum.
• Resume regular brushing twice daily, with flossing at least once daily the next day.
• Most kids are back to their “own self” later in the evening or by the next day.