Parents’ Corner

We want you to stay in the office for the duration of the procedure. We will usually have you wait in the waiting room. We'll bring your child back, and then bring you back when they're in recovery.

We follow the Anesthesia-Operator model, and we have certified anesthesia technologists in the room with us during the entire procedure.

With general anesthesia, we'll put your child to sleep to a point where they're still breathing on their own. However, they will remember nothing from the procedure, and they'll be completely comfortable.

We will prescribe the medication the day of the procedure. Depending on the procedure and the specific needs of the patient will determine which medications we prescribe. We'll either electronically prescribe it, so it's ready for you when you leave the office, or we'll hand you a paper prescription.

If we don't use EXPAREL, expect the numbness to wear off between 4 and 12 hours. With EXPAREL, the numbness will wear off in the lips and the tongue, but usually in the surgical sites, we’re expecting numbness to remain for about 2 to 3 days.

Your child’s discomfort will vary based on the procedure. Typically, it's going to peak between days 3 and 5 after the procedure.

Depending on the procedure that we’re doing, typical surgical sites will heal between 14 and 21 days.

We'll let you know at the end of the procedure if your child has any stitches. Typically, what we’re going to do is place stitches that dissolve by themselves.

It's very normal to have a little bit of oozing or spotting for a few days after the procedure. We send you home with some extra gauze, and in our post-op instructions, there's a few different tips and tricks that we'll review with you to help with the post-op bleeding. You can always give us a phone call after hours.

For the first 48 hours, use ice packs. After that, you can use things like a warm compress or a bean bag that you can microwave, and you’ll hold it over the site.

You can eat or drink right after surgery. We just ask that you stick to softer foods

A good rule of thumb for foods that are appropriate are anything that’s not going to be making a sound when eating—anything crunchy or chewy, anything small or grainy—typically for about 1 week. We want your kids to stick to cooler foods to avoid dislodging any blood clots that we want formed after the procedure.

Follow all the post-op instructions. Avoid things like spitting, sucking on a straw, smoking. If you happen to get a dry socket, and typically the pain is not controlled with any of the medication, give us a phone call. We’ll see you in the office the next day/the same day, and we’ll take care of the pain and address the situation.