Oral surgery is any surgical process performed on your teeth, gums, jaws, and other oral structures. This procedure is recommended if other dental treatments cannot solve your condition. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons or periodontists can do oral surgery. Your Woodlands dentist can recommend oral surgery if you have gum disease, severe tooth decay, jaw bone loss, impacted teeth, or TMJ disorders. After oral surgery, you need recovery time, but you can resume daily activities after two or three days. Corrective jaw surgery may take more days. There are various types of oral surgeries, and here are some.
Dental implant installation
Dental implants replace missing teeth, and their placement needs oral surgery. These rods are surgically inserted into your jaw. There are many types of implants, but most are made from titanium. Your dentist can attach a crown to the implant. But this will depend on the kind of implant and the health of your jaw. Sometimes you may have to wait several months for the bone tissue to fuse with the implant.
Tooth extractions
Sometimes you may have severe tooth decay, infection or damage, or wisdom teeth complications requiring tooth extraction. In some cases, a simple extraction may not be helpful, requiring surgical extraction. Surgical tooth extraction involves your specialist making an incision into your gums to successfully reach and extract the damaged tooth. You can have surgical tooth extraction under local or general anesthesia.
Bone grafting
Bone grafting is essential if you do not have enough jaw bone tissue. Insufficient jaw bone tissue can result from failing to replace lost teeth or dental problems that deteriorate jawbone tissue. A bone graft can also be used during periodontal surgery. Dentists mainly perform bone grafting when installing implants, but you lack sufficient bone tissue to hold the prosthetic in place.
Periodontal surgery
If you have severe periodontitis, your dentist can recommend surgical treatment. Periodontal surgery involves your surgeon making incisions along your gum line and then temporarily moving the tissue away from your teeth. The surgeon will then clean the tooth root by flushing away plaque and bacteria accumulating under your gums. The surgeon finally repositions and sutures the gum tissues in place.
Corrective jaw surgery
Corrective jaw surgery, also known as orthognathic surgery, treats skeletal issues of your jaw bone. Your dentist recommends this surgery to improve chewing function, correct jawbone misalignment, or address facial imbalances. Sometimes, your temporomandibular joint (TMJ) can become irritated or injured, causing pain. Corrective jaw surgery will help ease TMJ pain.
Repairing cleft lip and palate
A cleft lip is where your child is born with an opening on the upper lip, and a cleft palate involves having a space on the roof of the mouth. Some children are born with both problems. Cleft lip and palate happen when the facial structures of your baby do not develop fully in your uterus. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons perform this surgery to restore average eating ability and help your child gain proper speech patterns in the future.
Oral surgeries help achieve long-term teeth replacement and prevent other oral disorders. Schedule an appointment at Scott Young, DDS, for oral surgery to improve your dental health.
