The word “surgery” often causes resistance and fear, but with the use advanced methods, oral surgery is no longer as repulsive as it used to be. There is no pain during the procedure or it is reduced to a minimum, and traditional or homeopathic medications are excellent for treating painful post-operation symptoms at home.
Oral surgery consists of a series of surgical proceduresaimed at improving unfavourable anatomical and biological situations. Many medical conditions will require surgical interventions. For instance, wisdom teeth are the last to come out. Sometimes they come out of the gum area and the jaw provides enough space for them to fit, but this is not the usual scenario. Additionally, a rotten wisdom tooth can cause permanent damage to the surrounding teeth or even worse. That is why dentists recommend that wisdom teeth be taken out surgically.
The most common surgery procedures are dental extractions, surgical removal of wisdom teeth and residual roots, apicoectomy (root resection or removal of the root apex together with a cyst or granuloma), insertion of implants, sinus lift and many others. Some of these problems may be corrected with dentures, but in other cases surgical intervention is the only option.
Wisdom teeth
Very often, patients are not aware of their wisdom teeth because they cause no problems nor do they hurt. But during the eruption, wisdom teeth can cause pericoronitis, or inflammation of the gums.
Whether a wisdom tooth will cause problems in the oral cavity depends on several factors, including the size of the jaw and the way the wisdom tooth is growing in the mouth. Wisdom teeth can cause swelling and unpleasant pain, which may be an indication of wisdom teeth problems, but in most cases this can be prevented if you regularly see your dentist for preventive examinations. Sometimes cleaning is sufficient, but if the process gets complicated, the tooth will have to be surgically removed.
You can have a preventive examination done by a dentist, but in the case of extraction of a wisdom tooth it is always advisable to see an oral surgeon so that the procedure is done the least painful way possible and the post-operation phase goes well and without possible complications
Root resection (apicoectomy)
Apicoectomy is the surgical procedure applied to remove the root apex together with the periapical pathological process (cyst, granuloma).
When is apicoectomy needed?
It is used as an additional procedure in cases when endodontic tooth treatment did not give the desired results. Apicoectomy is a common surgery to save damaged teeth, i.e. it prevents tooth extraction.
Is apicoectomy a successful method of tooth treatment?
Yes, in most cases apicoectomy is successful.
How long will the procedure take and is it painful?
The procedure lasts about 30 minutes and is painless because it is performed under local anaesthesia.
What does the procedure look like?
Apicoectomy is performed in several phases:
• An incision is made in the gum tissue andis flapped back to expose the bone;
• The root and the area of infection are uncovered by removing a small amount of the bone with a drill;
• The apex of the root is then removed together with the infected tissue;
• The root is sealed with a filling;
• Then the gum tissue is stitched back into position around the tooth.
After the surgery the patient must follow the instructions for oral care after intraoral surgery.
Seven days after apicoectomy your dentist will remove the sutures.
Sinus lift
Sinus lift is a surgical procedure which aims to increase the amount of bone in the upper jaw (which occurs, for example, in the case of periodontitis).
This procedure is done in cases of bone loss in the upper jaw, when a so-called major sinus floor augmentation or sinus lift is required. With that, the bone height necessary for later insertion of implants is obtained.
Sinus lift surgeriesare performed in the dental office under local anaesthesia.
As a support for other branches of dental medicine...
Aside from the aforementioned procedures, oral surgery also helps in orthodontic therapy, implantology and corrections of major maxillofacial abnormalities and defects.
Prior to the fitting of an orthondontic appliance sometimes some teeth need to be extracted, either desidious or permanent, to ensure that the therapy is successful and the teeth position corrected. In some cases this implies a complicated tooth extraction by surgery.
Oral surgery is the specialised branch of dental medicine for the treatment and correction of abnormalities in the oral cavity. The dental clinic IDENTis specialised in all kinds of oral surgeries, so do not hesitate to contact us if you need any kind of advice, information or opinion.