What Is Oral Surgery?
Oral surgery a type of surgery that’s done in order to treat a variety of medical and dental conditions in the dental area. In this article, we’re going to talk about the medical conditions that need oral surgery.
Probably the most common condition that needs oral surgery is impacted teeth. Impacted teeth refers to teeth that are not able to fully come out of the gums and gets stuck between the jaw bone and the gum tissue.
Most cases of impacted teeth involve impacted wisdom teeth.
Wisdom teeth or third molars are the last set of teeth to come out. There are some people that have their wisdom teeth come out without a problem. Most people, however, do not have large enough jaws to make room for them to come out.
But it’s not just the wisdom teeth that become impacted. Sometimes, the other teeth also become impacted. Impacted teeth can be very painful and can cause pain, swelling, and infection in the gum area that surrounds the affected teeth. It could also cause cysts and damage to other teeth. It is for this reason that dentists recommend surgical removal of the impacted teeth.
Oral surgery for impacted teeth involves slicing the gum tissue and removing any unnecessary bone and debris. Next comes the removal of the impacted teeth and stitching it up.
Other Types of Oral Surgery
Aside from people who have impacted teeth, people who are candidates for dental implants also need oral surgery. Implants are artificial tooth roots that need to surgically placed in the jawbone in order to stabilize the artificial teeth that will be attached to them. In order to qualify for dental implants, your bones needs to have a certain density and you as a person should not be prone to infection.
Impacted teeth and dentures aside, other cases where you may need oral surgery include people with unequal jaw growth. While some conditions can be corrected by braces, some require more serious solutions like surgically removing part of the jaw to make the face more functional and healthy.
People with so-called temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders also need surgery.TMJ is the small joint found is where the skull and your lower jaw meet and is found in front of the ear. With a TMJ dysfunction,it is not uncommon to experience headaches and pains.
Although most TMJ patients respond well to oral medicines, splints and physical therapy, sometimes surgery is necessary especially for severe cases.
If you’re like most people, you’re probably thinking the only time you will ever need oral surgical procedures is when you have impacted teeth. But as you can see from above, any kind of severe pain in the facial joints and other parts of your skull might require the attention of a surgeon.
There are certain oral surgery procedures that are not covered by insurance, like surgical removal of wisdom teeth. If you need to have this procedure done, give us a call for a consultation and we’ll be happy to help you at 540-374-1010.