Post-operative care

Considerations

The main objectives of post-operative care include control of the healing of the surgical site and identifying risks which could affect healing and, where pertinent, osseointegration. In addition, post-operative visits provide the opportunity to evaluate the functional and esthetic attributes of provisional prostheses.

Some general recommendations regarding post-operative care are provided below. However, the exact timing and frequency of post-operative visits should be established on an individual patient basis.

Day 1, 2 or 3 after surgery

• General health condition of patient; how does the patient feel?
• Evaluation of the wound: suture condition, color of the soft tissues, bleeding, pain, swelling and other signs of inflammation
• Has full return of sensation taken place or does paresthesia persist?
• Atraumatic wound cleansing and disinfection
• Re-iteration of oral hygiene measures but not of surgical field
• If not done on day of surgery, atraumatic insertion of the provisional prosthesis

Day 7–14 after surgery

• General health condition of patient; how does the patient feel?
• Evaluation of the wound: color of the soft tissues, bleeding, pain, swelling and other signs of inflammation
• Evaluation of signs and symptoms of infection
• Non-resorbable suture removal and assessment of soft tissues
• Debris removal in wound area (if necessary)
• Check of all prosthetic components and healing/temporary components
• Check of fit and function/occlusion of provisional prostheses. Adjustments and soft relining of denture may be needed.
• In case of a delayed loading protocol it is helpful to ensure that the provisional prosthesis sits freely around implants and loading is minimal
• If needed re-instruction of patient about oral hygiene measures also of surgical area

Week 4-6 after surgery

• Evaluation of the soft tissue condition and potential inflammation/infections signs
• Re-evaluation of provisional prosthesis and check of prosthetic components and healing/temporary components
• Check of fit and function/occlusion of provisional prostheses. It may be necessary to replace the soft reline material in the provisional prosthesis
• Control of provisional denture and adjustment as necessary in order to ensure that the provisional prosthesis sits freely around implants and loading is minimal
• If needed, re-instruction of patient regarding hygiene measures
• Further timing for definitive prosthetic rehabilitation and/or recall visits