The back teeth of the upper jaw are usually close to the maxillary sinuses. The maxillary sinuses are airfilled cavities behind your cheekbones and beneath your eyes. An occasional complication of removing upper molar (back) teeth is an opening of the sinus floor.

These instructions have been given to you because your Maxillary Sinuses are involved. This means there is an opening between the mouth and the sinus, as a result of either a tooth extraction or some other form of oral surgery. Most openings will heal spontaneously as long as the following instructions are strictly adhered to after the surgery:

These instructions will help you to obtain better healing, however, if:

1. The OPENING into your sinus cavity is extremely large

2. Your sinus was previously infected, or

3. You had a sinus condition prior to your surgery, you may have a persistent opening from the sinus to your mouth and may require future surgery or treatments

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS

• Do NOT blow your nose for two weeks. There is a natural communication between your nose and sinus. Any positive pressure in your nose will be directly transferred to the sinus and subsequently to the opening that is trying to heal. If you feel “stuffed up”, decongestants such as Drixoral, Dimetapp, or Sudafed will help reduce pressure in the sinuses. Afrin nasal spray may be used if nose drops have not been prescribed.

• Do NOT drink through a straw for two weeks. The use of a straw causes a negative pressure which will lead to breakdown of the fresh extraction site.

• Do NOT smoke for two to three weeks. Smoke in your mouth, nose, and sinus will retard healing and REDUCE your chance of an uneventful repair.

* Smoking has a much more profound effect on oral wounds than it does on any other part of the body, since the effect of the smoke is in direct contact with the healing wound. Poor healing and breakdown of the wound are much more prevalent in smokers than in nonsmokers.

• If you need to sneeze, please do so as was demonstrated to you. Keep your mouth open, so the all the air comes out through your mouth, much like a cough. This will avoid pressure in the sinus and avoid doing damage to the opening or to the repaired site.