Procedure INFO

Prior to sedation in our office patients must abstain from eating or drinking, including medications, since midnight before the procedure. This is very important as it minimizes the risk of aspiration during the procedure.

Patients will not be able to go back to school or daycare so please plan for responsible adult child care afterwards.

No preparation is needed for laughing gas. Light breakfast or snack is advisable to make sure that kids feel as happy as possible during the procedure.

It is important to us that your child has a positive experience in our office.  Your child’s perception of us and the treatment to be performed is controlled largely by parents.  You have the power to make it a positive procedure.  We will explain the processes to your little one in simple words.  However, should you feel the need to discuss your child’s dental treatment at home, we would like to aid you in this endeavor.

First and foremost, the language we use to prepare the children for their appointments is crucial to their experience.  Please avoid words such as shot, hurt, drill, or pull. Instead, we use terms painting sleepy juice, having a tooth take a nap, making a tooth pillow, tooth whistle or toothbrush, and wiggle out the tooth.

If your child is coming in for a cleaning, please tell him or her that we are going to take pictures of his or her teeth and then we will brush and count the teeth.

If a filling or crown needs to be done, please tell your child that we need to wash out the sugar bugs first.  We will let them wear the “funny nose” to make them feel happy.  We need to let the tooth take a nap by painting sleepy juice around it.  We will wash out the sugar bugs with our tiny toothbrush.  Finally, we will put a white star in the tooth and shine it up to sparkle.

In case of an extraction, please tell your child that sleepy juice will be painted around that tooth and then we will help him or her wiggle the tooth out and place a band aid over it.

• Herpes Stomatitis is a common childhood viral infection. Your child, although uncomfortable for about 1 week, will heal without any need for medications. These instructions are designed to treat the symptoms and to help your child feel better.

• Virus usually starts with low grade fever few days before any other symptoms.  Then painful mouth sores appear, gums might be red, swollen and bleeding, tongue might be also covered with sores.  Kids have difficulty eating, drinking and swallowing.

• The most important thing is to keep your child well hydrated with lots of fluids. Some examples of good drinks are Gatorade, PediaSure, or Carnation Instant Breakfast.

• Mix one teaspoon of Benadryl with one teaspoon of Maalox (both available over the counter) and have your child swoosh and then swallow mixture every 4-6 hours.

• Tylenol or Motrin will provide relief for pain and fever. Take a dose appropriate for your child’s age and weight.

• Please remember that your child may feel irritable for 10-14 days while the virus runs its course. However, it should be easier for your child to eat and drink after 3-5 days.

• This virus is highly contagious.   

After dental treatment is done, please try to be positive and reinforce how great your child did.  Instead of asking “Did it hurt?” or “Was it bad?” please tell them “You did great!  I’m so proud of you for being such a big boy/girl!” This will make them feel successful and confident and empower them to handle the feeling of numbness as well as general discomfort that comes after dental procedures.

The first 2-3 days after starting with your braces is the most difficult time as your mouth is getting used to having the braces and some soreness in moving the teeth is normal and expected. Taking Advil or Tylenol for these first few days is ok as needed. After these first few days, it’s all downhill from there!

Food restriction list for space maintainers, expanders, crowns and sealants

The following foods can break sealants or fillings and bend wires or loosen bands:

• Crunching on ice

• Hard pizza crust

• Hard chips (Takis)

• Hard pretzels

• Sticky candy (ex Starbursts, Tootsie Rolls etc)

• Hard Candy

• Pens and pencils (please don’t!!!)

• Raw carrots or other hard raw veggies (or cut them into small pieces)

After dental procedure, but before numbness wears off, can be a difficult time for the kids.  Try your best to prevent the kids from biting on the lip/cheek/tongue by giving them sugar free lollipops (provided by us) and paying close attention to what they are doing. If, however, they bite their cheek few things can be done to speed up healing.

• The cheek or tongue will be swollen, red/white, hot, and painful. Sometimes parents mistake the chewed up area for infection, but it is injured tissue that will heal without antibiotics.

• Apply ice packs for first 3 days. Ice packs should be placed for 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off, for 1 hour, 3 times a day.

• Rinse with salt water two times a day for 3 days.

• Give your child Tylenol or Motrin for pain.

• Apply topical numbing ointments available over-the-counter at any pharmacy.

• Call us at 713-861-4000 if the wound does not heal in 5-7 days or if it seems infected.

• When gauze becomes soggy, replace it with another and apply pressure by biting on it for 30 minutes. Slight oozing and staining of saliva is normal and can be expected for as long as 2-3 days. Moderate bleeding may be controlled by biting tightly on a tea bag that has been wrapped in gauze and moistened slightly with water. If HEAVY bleeding continues, please call our office.

• After 24 hours, rinse very gently with warm salt water after meals (1/2 teaspoon per cup). Brushing and flossing should be resumed within 24 hours.

• Restrict diet to liquids (milkshake or smoothie) for the first 3 hours, and then eat soft foods for the rest of the day such as soup, yogurt, Carnation Instant Breakfast, eggs, jello etc.

• Carbonated drinks should not be given for 48 hours and straw should not be used for drinking for those 48 hours in order to promote clotting.

• Plain Tylenol or Motrin may be taken every 4-6 hours as needed for pain.

• If the tooth extracted was a permanent tooth, you can apply ice packs to face to reduce post operative swelling for the first 3 days. Ice packs should be placed on 15 minutes, off 15 minutes, for 1 hour, 3 times a day.

• Your child’s lip, cheek, and tongue will be numb or “asleep” for about 2-3 hours. During this time make sure your child does not bite, scratch, or pick at these numb areas.

• Restrict diet to liquids (milkshake or smoothie) as long as your child is numb. Afterwards when the numbness is gone, resume regular diet.

• Normal brushing and flossing should resume tonight.

• Give Tylenol or Motrin in case of any discomfort of the tooth or gums.

• If your child complains of discomfort when chewing after a few days, please come in to the office for adjustments to the height of the filling. It is a short, painless procedure that does not require numbing.

• Your child’s lip, cheek and tongue will be numb or “asleep” for about 2-3 hours. During this time, make sure your child does not bite, scratch, or pick at these numb areas.

• Restrict diet to liquids (milkshake or smoothie) as long as your child is numb. Afterwards when the numbness is gone, resume regular diet.

• Normal brushing and flossing should resume tonight.

• Give Tylenol or Motrin in case of any discomfort of the tooth or gums.

• Gums may bleed for 2-3 days due to the necessity of touching the gums while preparing the tooth for crown placement. Gentle cleaning should be done for the first 2 days with a soft toothbrush or washcloth. All other areas should be cleaned as usual. To speed up healing, use warm saltwater rinses after meals and before bedtime.

• Sticky or hard candy can pull the crown off the tooth anytime. Call us immediately if the crown comes off, so that Dr. Lindhorst can replace it or re-cement the old one.

• Bonding is a fragile procedure done to repair fractures or staining on the front teeth.  Because retention is difficult, sometimes we might have to redo the procedure.  We guarantee a no-charge redo for the first 6 months.

  • Depending on the size of the fracture, final solution in the late teens or early 20s might be a crown or a veneer.  That procedure will be done by a cosmetic dentist.

  • To help increase the longevity of the restoration proper home care is important:

  • Avoid biting with the front tooth into hard candy, apples, carrots, hard bread, pizza crust etc. to prevent fracture.

• To  prevent staining, avoid foods such as chocolate, coffee, tea, colas, grape juice, blueberries etc.

• Brush and floss well.

• Report any sensitivity to our doctors as soon as possible.  Broken permanent teeth might need root canals if an infection occurs.