Oral Surgery

Oral Surgery is a division within the field of dentistry that includes procedures from tooth extractions to gum grafting. We offer a wide spectrum of oral surgery procedures and treatments.

Sedation options are also available for patients that feel anxiety related to their surgical procedure.

What are Reasons for having an Oral Surgery?

• Wisdom Teeth:When your wisdom teeth are impacted by gums or bone they can cause potential problems for the future. When they are partially impacted they can cause damage to the adjacent teeth by creating a food trap and causing decay. Also, food and bacteria can cause an infection when the gums are covering part of the wisdom tooth. On average wisdom teeth will erupt around age 18, but teenagers are presenting with wisdom teeth as young as age 14. When we see signs of the wisdom teeth developing we will recommend taking a panoramic x-ray that will display the current position and developmental stage of your wisdom teeth. In some cases it is simpler to take them out before they are fully developed so it is not advantageous to wait until you are older. It is very important to understand that not all wisdom teeth need to be extracted. You have the option of keeping them if you have adequate space for them and are able to keep them clean.
• Orthodontics: When you have severe crowding and are receiving orthodontic treatment, sometimes the size and number of teeth that you have will not fit within the size of your jaw. In these cases the specialist will choose which teeth need to be extracted in order to make space for the rest of your teeth. This will allow enough space to align your teeth correctly.
• Severe Decay:When your tooth experiences severe decay and cannot be restored then it needs to be removed. The more advanced the decay process the more pain you will experience due to exposure of nerves or infection of the bone. As decay progresses, the more difficult it will be to extract as we will have less tooth structure available to use to remove your tooth.
• Severe Bone Loss:When your gum disease progresses you will experience bone loss as well. Bone is what provides anchorage for your teeth so as you lose bone around your tooth, you will experience mobility as well. As mobility increases the chance of infection, and eventual removal of your tooth, increases as well.
• Exposing an impacted tooth:When a tooth is unable to fully erupt it is referred to as being impacted, either covered by only gums or by the jawbone as well. Two categories of impacted teeth are wisdom teeth and adult teeth that have failed to erupt into their normal position. Impacted wisdom teeth can cause pain and discomfort when they are partially erupted because food and bacteria gets stuck underneath the gums. Furthermore, they can cause a food trap and decay on adjacent teeth leading to the loss of these teeth as well. Adult teeth, typically the upper canine, can fail to erupt into it’s normal position and gets “stuck” inside of the bone. In conjunction with braces, this tooth is surgically exposed so that brackets can be bonded and the tooth can be brought down over time.

What are reasons for needing a bone graft?

• Socket Preservation: When a tooth is extracted and there is a plan to place an implant, we preserve the bone volume in the area by performing a socket preservation procedure. Immediately after the tooth is extracted the socket is filled with a graft material and a membrane is placed to protect the graft during healing.
• Guided Bone Regeneration: After a tooth is extracted the surrounding bone will begin to shrink in height and width over time. The concern is that as you lose bone in all dimensions, you may not have enough bone left to place an adequate sized implant. A bone graft can be done to augment the volume of bone in the proposed implant area allowing for an adequate size implant to be placed.
• Sinus Lift: When you lose a tooth the amount of bone available for an implant will start decreasing over soon after the tooth is extracted. In addition, your sinus will expand over time when a tooth is extracted in the upper jaw and these two processes result in less than adequate bone available to place an implant. To place an implant that is long enough in such situations, the floor of the sinus is “lifted” and filled with bone to provide adequate bone. Sometimes an implant can be placed at the same time, but if the amount of bone required is substantial then the graft will need to heal before an implant can be placed.

What are reasons for needing a gum graft?

• Soft tissue grafting: It is important to understand the importance of your soft tissue that surrounds and supports the health of your teeth and dental implants. Gum grafting procedures are done when the state of your gums is deficient around your teeth or planned implant site. There are a number of grafting procedures that can augment the area, but it is important to understand that each option has pros and cons depending on the situation.

Why would you need a frenectomy?

A frenum is a muscle attachment in your mouth that sometimes requires removal. The pull and location of the frenum located between your two front teeth can cause these teeth to separate, causing a gap, or it can cause the gums to recede. Often, this frenum is cut in conjunction with orthodontic treatment used to close the gap between your front teeth; otherwise, if this muscle attachment remains it will tend to want to pull your front teeth apart even after your braces are removed. The pull and location of the frenum located underneath your tongue can cause you to be “tongue tied”. This can have an impact on a newborn being able to breastfeed and can cause speech impediment.

Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF) & Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)

One technique that we use to aid in healing of more involved surgical procedures is we take blood from your arm and use a centrifuge to separate the healing components of your blood. We then place this back into the surgical site after we have finished our procedure and this allows the body to heal much faster and with much less discomfort.

3D CBCT

We take pride in providing our patients with the best care possible through investing in the newest and safest state of the art technology. This includes our 3D CBCT x-ray machine that allows us to take 3D images. These images are used for when indicated for surgical implant planning, difficult root canal treatments, difficult extractions and oral pathology. The resolution of the equipment that we have purchased is one of the highest in the industry, while exposing the patient to a very low dosage of radiation relative to other brands of equipment.