Oral Surgeries

Oral Surgeries

The word “surgery” often brings to mind a stay in the hospital, general anesthesia, and perhaps a lengthy recovery period. However, the experience of having oral surgery is usually very different from that. Oral surgery is often performed in a dental office setting, under local anesthesia, with minimal recovery time. Oral Surgery can range from routine procedures such as tooth extractions and implant placement to more complex jaw realignment surgeries and emergency care for facial trauma.

Oral surgery procedures may be performed to relieve pain, treat an infection or trauma, restore function or improve a person's appearance. Procedures and conditions treated include:

Tooth Extractions.

There are a variety of reasons why you may need a tooth or teeth removed. You may have a wisdom tooth that is impacted; a diseased tooth that can't be saved; or overcrowded teeth that need to be removed so more room can be created to facilitate proper alignment during orthodontics.

Dental Implants:

Today's preferred method of tooth replacement is a titanium dental implant, which is placed beneath the gum line and into the jawbone during a minor surgical procedure. The implant is then attached to a realistic-looking dental crown that is visible above the gum line and indistinguishable from a natural tooth.

Oral Diagnosis & Biopsies:

When a suspicious oral lesion is found, a biopsy is often used to detect or rule out oral cancer — a disease that is treatable if caught early. A biopsy involves removing a very small tissue sample for laboratory analysis.

Corrective Jaw Surgery:

Sometimes a person's jaws don't fit together properly. This can affect both jaw function and appearance.

Snoring & Sleep Apnea:

Excess tissue in the back of the throat may need to be removed in certain individuals with sleep apnea.

TMD:

When conservative remedies fail to relieve chronic jaw pain over a long period of time, surgery may be considered

Facial Trauma & Reconstructive Surgery:

Facial injuries can affect not only a person's ability to carry on basic life functions such as eating, but also his or her appearance. Knocked-out teeth can sometimes be re-implanted, or replaced with dental implants.

Cleft Lip/Palate:

These birth defects are among the most common, estimated to affect around one in 700-800 babies born. With proper surgical treatment, the child has an excellent chance of leading a healthy, normal life.

Sinus Surgery

If you want to replace a missing or failing tooth with a state-of-the-art dental implant your dentist will first need to make sure that you have sufficient bone in your jaw to anchor the implant. This is true no matter what type of tooth is being replaced. However, if it is an upper back tooth and there is not enough bone under the gum where the implant needs to go, the base of the implant could end up poking through an air space (located to the side of the nose) called a sinus cavity. Since you can't anchor a dental implant to air, this presents a problem — but it is one that can often be solved with a minor in-office surgical procedure called a “sinus membrane lift.”