When you have a serious issue, such as wisdom teeth soon to erupt, or missing teeth and weakened jaws, you may need oral surgery. With these advanced treatment options, we can tackle your complex oral health issues and restore your smile to optimal oral health. In today’s blog, your Cerritos, CA, dentist talks about oral surgery.
When You Need Treatment
Oral surgery is recommended to address issues too severe for traditional treatments, such as restorations. You may be referred to our office by your general dentist or your orthodontist, or you may develop an issue that needs attention, such as a damaged tooth, a missing tooth, or injuries to your face or jaw. Our team will take close look at your smile, jaw, and oral structures with digital x-rays and intraoral camera technology, so we can assess the cause and extent of your oral health concern. From there, we plan the treatment process with precision and accuracy, so we can administer oral surgery that restores your smile to optimal health and beauty.
Anesthesia and Sedation
We want to ensure your treatment is a positive and comfortable experience, which is why we administer calming agents. A local anesthesia can numb the area being treated, and for patients with anxiety, special needs, or ones undergoing more extensive treatment, we could offer sedation. With dental sedation, you enter a deep state of calm and relaxation, with little to no memory of the procedure at all. When the procedure ends, you may need a friend or family member to bring you home afterwards.
Jawbone Grafting
If you lose one or more of your natural teeth, your body will respond by suspending the flow of calcium and phosphates to the jawbone around the missing tooth roots. The jawbone then breaks down to cause further tooth loss and a weakened jaw. This could complicate your ability to receive dental implants, limiting tooth replacement options. But with grafting, we can add new material to the lower jaw to strengthen it and restore your ability to support teeth, so we can move forward with dental implant placement. We could use bone tissue taken from the jaw, your hip, or your knee, or from donor or synthetic sources too. For the upper jaw, we could conduct a sinus lift, raising the sinus floor to cover new tissues to support your replacement teeth in the upper portion of your smile.
Tooth Extraction
Sometimes, a tooth cannot be restored with a crown, and leaving it in place could lead to infection and tooth loss, and allow infection to reach other teeth or move into your jawbone. To avoid this, we could remove severely damaged or infected teeth before they threaten your smile as a whole. Our team could also take out wisdom teeth before they erupt, so you avoid painful impactions, infections, damaged teeth, or dental misalignment. The process could take as little as 30 minutes, and if necessary, we could discuss tooth replacement options to address the gaps in your smile.
Gum Grafting
What if you have an advanced case of gum disease, the type that allows gum recession to occur? When your gums recede, this could expose sensitive root structure, causing tooth decay and infection. You could be more vulnerable to periodontitis, too, which leads to adult tooth loss. With gum grafts, we can take tissues from other areas of your smile and cover the exposed portions of the roots, so your smile is healthier, stronger, and more attractive too. We can then use cleanings and other preventive treatments to manage gum disease to prevent further recession and keep your smile whole.
Dental Implant Placement
If you lost teeth due to an injury or as a result of untreated gum disease, then you have gaps in your smile. This could lead to a weakened jaw and further tooth loss as touched on above. You could also develop misalignment, trouble eating your favorite foods, and even difficulty speaking clearly. For a long-lasting tooth replacement, one that can address these gaps and last for decades to come, possibly a lifetime, we could use oral surgery to support dental implants. We insert the implant portion into the jaw, where it acts as new tooth roots and preserves the jawbone. We then attach a crown for an individual one, or we could use multiple posts to support a complete set of dentures!
If you have any questions about oral surgery, then contact our team today.
SCHEDULE YOUR ORAL SURGERY TODAY
Our team is ready to handle the complex issues facing your smile with oral surgery. Call your Cerritos, CA dentist’s office at (562)584-4082 to assess what oral surgery you need to enjoy optimal oral health.
