Oral surgery is necessary for a multitude of reasons; to extract a tooth, fix jaw problems, to put in dental implants, for severe cases of sleep apnea, and severe cases of gum disease. If you are having issues related to your sleep, gums, teeth, or jaw, making a quick visit to your dentist will help to determine what’s going on in your mouth and what you will need to do. Oral surgery is also done if you have extensive facial injuries in order to correct any issues (cosmetic or restorative) that you may be having with the bones around your mouth. Will you need oral surgery?
Questions:
1. When is oral surgery required?
a. Your jaw has grown unequally
b. Orthodontics are put on for a period of time
c. You suffer from mild sleep apnea
2. How can oral surgery restore your smile?
a. Tooth Bonding
b. Dental Implants
c. Bone Grafting
Answer Key:
- A. Oral surgery can correct unequal jaw growth by removing parts of your jaw bone in certain areas. Orthodontics do not require oral surgery in order to be put in your mouth. Lastly, although sleep apnea can be treated from undergoing oral surgery to remove soft tissues that could be blocking your airway, usually mild sleep apnea cases can be treated from lifestyle changes or devices that use pressure to administer oxygen while you sleep.
- B and C. Dental implants are inserted below your gum line in order to fuse with your jaw bone. In a similar situation, if you do not have enough bone density in the area where the implant needs to fuse with your bone, your dentist can use bone grafting to add a more stable bone for a permanent solution. However, tooth bonding, a cosmetic procedure, does not require oral surgery.
