When Does a Patient Need Oral Surgery?
April 29, 2019
For some problems, we may offer treatment using a filling or a custom crown. But what if you have issues with loss of jawbone density, or missing teeth? What if wisdom teeth are poised to erupt and impact your dental alignment? In these scenarios, we may help patients in Kansas City, MO, with oral surgery. When should a patient see us for oral surgery, and how to we ensure the experience is a comfortable one?
Wisdom Teeth
When a person approaches adulthood, up to four additional molars could erupt. These teeth, known as wisdom teeth, often have little to room in the smile, so their arrival may cause painful partial eruption, known as impaction, as well as a greater risk of infection and damaged teeth. In order to prevent this, we may suggest an extraction. With an extraction, we employ oral surgery to remove one or more teeth from the smile, before they erupt and place your smile’s alignment and stability in danger. Of course, we will walk you through the treatment process and prior to the procedure, use sedation to help you enter a calm and relaxed state, with no memory of the procedure afterward.
Jawbone Grafting
When we lose our teeth, the body stops sending doses of calcium and phosphorus to the jawbone around the missing teeth. Over time, being deprived of nutrients means the jawbone itself begins to dissolve. As the jawbone loses bone density, further tooth loss and an aged appearance follow. Lack of jawbone tissue often makes placing dental implants impossible, so we may need to shore up your jawbone with a grafting procedure. The treatment enables your smile to support new teeth and preserves your facial structure.
Dental Implants
In order to offer a secure and long-lasting solution to tooth loss, we may place dental implants. Inserted directly into the jaw in a surgical procedure, they act as new tooth roots, stimulating the growth of jawbone tissue and lasting much longer than traditional dentures or bridges. For those with advanced tooth loss, we can place several to support a fixed denture or bridge. In some cases, we may be able to place them and attach a prosthetic in the same day, allowing you leave our office with a complete smile. If you have any questions about our oral surgical procedures, or about addressing tooth loss or wisdom teeth, then contact our team today.
Do You Have Questions About Oral Surgery?
We take steps to ensure your experience is comfortable and that you leave with a healthier smile. To learn more about our approach to oral surgery, then please schedule a consultation by calling Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry of Kansas City, MO, today at 816-427-4018.