Pain Management Following Oral Surgery

Unfortunately, most surgery is accompanied by some degree of discomfort. The local anesthetic administered during the procedure typically has a 3 to 6-hour duration, and it may be difficult to control pain once the anesthesia has worn off. We therefore advise you to take the pain medication within 2 hours following your surgery to “get ahead of” the pain.

Our goal following the surgical procedure is to decrease post-operative discomfort while limiting the patient’s exposure to opioid medications. Opioid pain medications are very effective at controlling discomfort, but they are highly addictive.

Below is your schedule of pain control medication recommended by Dr. Burns. Contact our office with any questions or concerns.

It is important to keep a record of the amount and time of your pain medication doses. Our website includes a printable chart to help you keep track of this important information. Please be mindful of and record how much of these medications you are taking each day.

ADULT DAILY LIMIT OF ACETAMINOPHEN = 3000 mg = 6 × 500 mg tablets

ADULT DAILY LIMIT OF IBUPROFEN = 3200 mg = 16 × 200 mg tablets or 5 × 600 mg tablets

Never exceed these daily limits of acetaminophen or ibuprofen!

PRINTABLE CHART

OVER-THE-COUNTER PAIN MEDICATION

  1. Take Advil (Ibuprofen): 600 mg (3 × 200 mg tablets) by mouth every 6 hours as needed for discomfort.

  2. When Advil (Ibuprofen) alone does not seem to diminish the pain, you may take both (Advil) Ibuprofen and Tylenol together at your next dosing time. In this case, take Advil (Ibuprofen) 600 mg (3 × 200 mg tablets) + Tylenol ES (acetaminophen) 500 mg (1 tablet).
  3. We recommend that you use our printable chart to keep track of your daily consumption of these medications to reduce your risk of overdose.

PRESCRIPTION IBUPROFEN PAIN MEDICATION

  1. Take prescription Ibuprofen: 600 mg (1 tablet) by mouth every 6 hours for discomfort.

  2. When prescription Ibuprofen alone does not seem to diminish the pain, you may take both Tylenol and Ibuprofen together at your next dosing time. In this case, take prescription Advil (Ibuprofen) 600 mg (1 tablet) + Tylenol ES (acetaminophen) 500 mg (1 tablet).

  3. We recommend that you use our printable chart to keep track of your daily consumption of these medications to reduce your risk of overdose.

NARCOTIC PERCOCET PAIN MEDICATION

  1. Percocet is a narcotic, is distributed by prescription only, and is only to be used if the pain is considerably uncontrolled despite taking one of the above protocols.

  2. One Percocet 5/325 contains 5 mg oxycodone AND 325 mg acetaminophen.

  3. Take ONE Percocet 5/325 tablet by mouth.

  4. One dose of Percocet PLUS the ibuprofen/Tylenol combination (described above) provides 825 mg of acetaminophen. Most people tolerate this amount of acetaminophen if the liver is healthy.

  5. It is IMPERATIVE that you keep track of your daily consumption of acetaminophen and ibuprofen! DO NOT EXCEED THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE DOSE OF EITHER MEDICINE. Please refer to the chart above for these amounts.

  6. We recommend that you use our printable chart to keep track of your daily consumption of these medications to reduce your risk of overdose.

  7. The most common side effects of Percocet are nausea and constipation. Nausea can be lessened by consuming food before taking the medication. Every person taking Percocet will experience some degree of constipation.