Posted on 5/15/2024 by Greater Charlotte Oral and Facial Surgery
Complex medical conditions related to the face, jaws, mouth, and teeth are treated using oral and maxillofacial surgery. Your face, jaw, teeth, and mouth can suffer adversely as a result of accidental injuries, such as those caused by motor vehicle accidents, chemical burns, assaults, or sports injuries. These accidents can leave you with extensive facial trauma that needs reconstructive surgery, dental procedures for injuries involving the jawbone, and facial trauma surgery to restore the function of your maxillofacial areas.
How to Prepare
Preparing for an oral and maxillofacial surgery depends on the condition you are treating and the reason for the treatment. Before you can start preparing for surgery, you must meet your surgeon to talk about the pre-operative results and confirm that the suggested procedure is what you really need. This is the time for you to ask any questions.
What to Wear
If you are going in for major surgery, such as a facial reconstruction or any other that needs general anesthesia, you will be in a hospital gown. You should, therefore, wear clothes that are easy to remove and wear, especially because you will need to get dressed after surgery.
Food and Drinks
You are required to adhere to certain food and drink restrictions before surgery, especially if undergoing any form of sedation. In most instances, you cannot eat any food or take any drinks after midnight. You might be allowed to take a few sips of water in the morning if you have morning pills to swallow, but you cannot take anything further. The food and drink restrictions do not apply to local anesthesia.
Medications
As a general rule, you should not take blood thinners and anticoagulants in the days before your surgery. These classes of drugs can increase bleeding, and they can affect the proper healing of wounds if they are present in your blood system during surgery.
With these conditions in place, you are about ready for your oral and maxillofacial surgery. You only need to bring your identification card and your insurance card for payment purposes.