Types Of Oral Surgery Article

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Types of Oral Surgery

Oral surgery is a dental specialty. Oral surgeons diagnose and treat conditions affecting your oral cavity. Oral surgeons deal with both your bones and soft tissues.

Author: Sara Goldstein

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Oftentimes, oral surgeons are actually called “oral and maxillofacial” surgeons because they treat all the regions of your face, including the forehead, cheekbones and jaws.
Common Types of Oral Surgery

Oral surgery encompasses a significant number of procedures, including:
• Wisdom tooth extraction
• Implant dentistry
• Jaw surgery
• TMJ surgery
• Reconstructive oral surgery
• Periodontal surgery

Sometimes, dentists offer one or two of these surgeries but not others. Other dentists will refer you to an oral surgeon; implant dentists will sometimes perform part of the implant process, while an oral surgeon completes the surgical portion.

Wisdom Tooth Extraction

Wisdom tooth removal is one of the most common oral surgery procedures. Dentists frequently find that wisdom teeth need to be removed. Oftentimes, the jaw is not large enough to accommodate these molars, and the teeth become impacted. “Impacted” wisdom teeth do not have the room to grow normally, and become misaligned and do not emerge from the gums.

Impacted wisdom teeth often lead to infection and inflammation of the surrounding gum tissue. These infections can be painful and recurring. Wisdom teeth can also displace the position of your other teeth. In severe cases, impacted wisdom teeth lead to cysts and tumors at the tooth root. For these reasons, dentists often recommend oral surgery to remove wisdom teeth.

Jaw Surgery
Many different conditions afflicting the jaw require oral surgery. Some of the more common reasons for jaw surgery include:
• Jaw growth. Jaws that grow out of alignment may have to be moved surgically. A function of braces is alignment of the jaw, but some serious cases cannot be corrected with braces alone.
• TMJ disorders. Disorders affecting the joint that connects the jaw and skull can be painful. TMJ disorders cause migraine-like headaches and jaw discomfort. TMJ is typically treated non-invasively, but extreme cases require surgery.
• Injury repair. After suffering a facial trauma, oral surgery repairs broken bones in your face.

These are only a few of the procedures oral surgeons perform. As specialists in this field, experienced oral surgeons address many different aspects of your oral cavity and face.

To learn more about oral surgery procedures, please visit the website of experienced San Diego, California, neuromuscular dentist Dr. Mary A. Walsh-Cole.

About Author

Dr. Mary A. Walsh-Cole offers cosmetic dentistry to patients in San Diego, Encinitas and Carlsbad.

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