Alder Dental Studio
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Each sheet also prints on its own, one page each.

After a filling

Your mouth is numb for two to four hours. Everything below is about those hours and the few days after.

First 24 hours

  • Skip hot drinks and chewing until the numbness is fully gone; it's very easy to bite a cheek you can't feel.
  • Eat on the other side today if the tooth feels tender.
  • Take your usual over-the-counter pain reliever if you need one; most people don't.

The next few days

  • Cold sensitivity is normal and fades over days to a couple of weeks.
  • Brush and floss the tooth normally, starting today.

Call us if

  • Your bite feels high or you're hitting that tooth first. A two-minute adjustment fixes it; don't wait it out.
  • Pain is getting worse after two or three days instead of better.
  • You feel a rough or sharp edge with your tongue.

After an extraction

The goal for 48 hours is one thing: protect the blood clot in the socket. It is the whole healing plan.

First 24 hours

  • Bite gently on the gauze for 30 to 45 minutes; swap it if it soaks through.
  • No straws, no smoking, no spitting, no vigorous rinsing. Suction pulls the clot out and that's the one complication worth avoiding.
  • Soft, cool food today: yogurt, eggs, soup that isn't hot.
  • Swelling? A cold compress on the cheek, ten minutes on, ten off.

The next few days

  • From day two: rinse gently with warm salt water after meals.
  • Swelling peaks around day two or three, then eases. That's the normal shape of it.

Call us if

  • Bleeding hasn't slowed a few hours in despite gauze pressure.
  • Throbbing pain sets in on day three or four, especially with a bad taste; that's a dry socket and we can settle it quickly.
  • You run a fever, or swelling spreads instead of easing.

After a crown

Two stages, two sets of rules: the temporary you wear between visits, and the permanent one that replaces it.

While the temporary is on

  • Nothing sticky or chewy on that side: caramel, gum, and dried fruit are the usual culprits.
  • Floss by pulling the floss out sideways rather than snapping it back up; that keeps the temporary seated.
  • If it comes off anyway, don't panic and don't glue it. Keep it, call us, and we'll re-seat it, usually the same day.

Once the permanent crown is in

  • Sensitivity for a few days is normal; it settles.
  • Treat it like a tooth, because it is one: brush, floss, no opening packages with it.

Call us if

  • Your bite feels high once the numbness wears off.
  • The crown feels loose or rocks when you chew.
  • Sensitivity sharpens instead of settling after a week or two.

After whitening

Enamel is briefly more porous after a session. For two days, the white-shirt rule decides what you eat and drink.

First 48 hours

  • If it would stain a white shirt, wait: coffee, red wine, tea, berries, tomato sauce, turmeric.
  • No smoking; it re-stains fastest of all.
  • Zings of sensitivity are common and pass within a day or two. Sensitive-formula toothpaste helps; so does skipping very hot and very cold drinks.

Keeping the shade

  • A straw for iced coffee and cola genuinely helps.
  • Touch-up trays every few months beat re-doing a full session. Ask us which schedule fits your habits.

Call us if

  • Sharp sensitivity lasts beyond a few days.
  • Your gums stay white or sore where the gel sat.

These sheets are general guidance for routine recoveries at our practice, not a diagnosis. If we handed you written instructions at your visit, those win. Questions in between: (503) 555-0114, any weekday. Sample practice data