Children's Sports and Dental Injuries

Different Types of Dental Surgery

20 August 2015 by Lillian Dixon

Generally, people will set up dental appointments for routine check-ups or to have cavities filled. However, there may also come a time that you require oral surgery. This could be either in the form of cosmetic surgery to remedy the misalignment of teeth, or perhaps for restorative reasons. In these instances, you would have to enlist the services of an oral surgeon. Here are some of the different types of dental surgery that you may require.

Specialized dental surgery

This type of surgery is typically performed when your jaw is misaligned. It is commonly referred to as orthodontic surgery. The oral surgeon will have to break your jaw to align them appropriately. If the damage is extensive, you may find that orthodontic surgery can even change your appearance, as your facial structure will be altered. Orthodontic surgery will be necessary if the misalignment of your jaw is affecting how you chew, your speech or even causing breathing problems. However, one can also opt to have cosmetic specialized surgery if they would like to change the appearance of their jawline.

Dental implants

This type of surgery is restorative. Dental implants are recommended for people who would like to remedy missing teeth with a permanent solution. It involves the drilling of your jaw so that the oral surgeon can install a titanium screw. The screw is then fitted with a prosthetic tooth to replace the missing one. Dental implants can be used for one or multiple missing teeth, depending on the patient's discretion. It should be noted that since this is one of the best options due to the permanency of the teeth, it tends to be costlier than other restorative dental measures you could opt for.

Extraction of wisdom teeth

Although not everyone will need to have their wisdom teeth extracted, they tend to become a problem when they become impacted. Excruciating pain and excessive swelling of the gums characterize this. If left undeterred, the wisdom teeth begin to push against the adjacent teeth making them misaligned. It could also have a profound effect on your ability to eat and cause additional oral problems if your gums become infected with bacteria. If you have impacted wisdom teeth, the surgeon will have to put you under anaesthesia to cut away at the surrounding gums. This gives them access to the troublesome wisdom teeth for easy extraction. This is concluded by stitching up the area leaving room for your gums to heal. Once the wisdom teeth are extracted, there is usually no need to replace the teeth with prosthetic options, as your remaining teeth will require the space that has been made available.

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