Dental Surgery

Losing teeth can cause remaining teeth to shift, rotate, and become crooked, leaving you with a bad bite and unsightly spaces that can, in turn, make chewing food more painful and home care more difficult. Oral surgery for dental implants can help restore the form of your natural teeth and their function, whether you need to replace one tooth or a whole jaw. Dental implants can also be used to help secure dentures, preventing them from causing irritation due to rubbing and clicking noises, or as an alternative to partial dentures or a crown-and-bridge treatment.

The Dental Implant Procedure

1. One of our dental surgeons will examine your mouth, take x-rays, and discuss your dental history, wants, and needs to determine if dental implants are right for you.
2. If you are a candidate for this oral surgery procedure, we will then place the dental implant below the gumline.
3. The artificial roots are then given enough time to stabilize, allowing the implant to begin reinforcing your jawbone and prevent further bone loss.
4. Finally, we will attach a replacement tooth crown above the gumline to the implant and provide with care instructions.

Unlike regular dentures which sit on top of the gums, implant stabilized dentures use attachments to clip onto implants that have been inserted into the jawbone to help keep the dentures firmly in place. There are two types of implant stabilized dentures:

Ball-Retained Dentures

Also known as stud-attachment dentures, ball-retained dentures use attachments that are designed to fit onto the implants’ metal attachments. In most cases, the implant attachments are ball-shaped and the denture attachments are more like sockets. The ball-shaped attachments are designed to fit into the denture attachment sockets.

Bar-Retained Dentures

Bar-retained dentures require between two to five implants in the jawbone. A metal bar that curves around the jawbone is then attached to all of the implants and the denture is fitted over the bar. The implants or dentures or both may have attachments on them to help clip them together.

Dental bridges work to fill the gap left by missing teeth by attaching to the remaining healthy teeth around the gap. In some cases, the two teeth on each side of the gap will be shaved down to accommodate the bridge. A cap is then placed over top of each of the shaved teeth and is accompanied by the bridge, replacing the missing teeth. There are a variety of different bridge procedures to choose from, so your dentist will help you select the best option for your particular needs, as well as provide you with care instructions for your new bridge.

Oral surgery sedation can be used to reduce mild to moderate levels of anxiety and fear and is especially ideal for adult patients who are dental phobic or whose anxiety level rises to an uncomfortable level at just the thought of going to the dentist. Depending on the type of dental work being completed, we can provide you with IV sedation, oral sedation (pills), or nitrous oxide (laughing gas). All our IV sedation patients are monitored by a registered nurse onsite.

In order to determine which type of sedation will work best for you, we will:

• Review your medical history—we will thoroughly review your health care needs and current medications to predict any possible interactions and how the drug will be metabolized.
• Consider the length of the procedure—before determining which type of sedation will work best for you, we will give you a good idea of the duration of each treatment and the level of care required after the procedure. In some cases, patients choose to have multiple oral surgery procedures completed at once while under sedation.
• Consider the comfort level needed—we will discuss your level of anxiety and fear, past experiences, and what we can provide to help you feel the most comfortable during oral surgery.

Since wisdom teeth completely mature and erupt into the mouth after the jawbone has fully developed, there is usually not enough room for them, causing them to put pressure on existing teeth. This can cause severe discomfort, pain, and can cause other teeth to shift. Wisdom teeth that do not come in to place correctly are called “impacted”. Since there is no way to tell when an impacted molar will cause trouble, the best way to avoid discomfort and complicated treatment is to remove wisdom teeth before they start causing problems.

Impacted wisdom teeth that are left untreated by oral surgery can cause:

• Discomfort or pain
• Shifting teeth
• Sore gums
• Face pain
• Jaw pain
• Reduced ability to open mouth
• Infection
• Swelling
• Gum disease
• Bad breath
• Cavities
• Jawbone cysts

Bone grafting is an oral surgery procedure that works by adding bone material to the jawbone to augment its depth or width or to add extra support for your natural teeth or for a dental implant. In most cases, bone grafting material is sourced from bones somewhere else in your body; however, in some cases, donated bone, animal bone, or synthetic bone can be used for the procedure.

Major Bone Grafts

Major bone grafts are for when a large area of your jaw needs to be augmented and is most commonly used in preparation for the placement of many implants. During major bone grafting procedures, bone is removed from the donor site in your own body like the shin or the hip. Once the bone has been harvested, it is then attached to your jaw with small titanium screws. Major bone grafts are typically completed six to nine months before any implants are placed and are performed under sedation or general anesthesia.

Minor Bone Grafts

Minor bone grafts are used for areas of the jaw in which the bone requires only a slight augmentation like replacing a single tooth.

The Pinhole® Surgical Technique is a minimally invasive procedure that is used to help correct gum recession and to save teeth. During the procedure, a small hole is made by a needle and then specially designed instruments are then used to gently loosen the gum tissue and reposition it over top of the receded part of the gumline. Pinhole® surgery does not require any cuts or stitches, so you can expect minimal post-operative care instructions and symptoms like pain, swelling, and bleeding.

Similar to bone grafting for the jawbone, bone can be surgically grafted onto the sinus to help raise the sinus membrane. This procedure is often used to allow for a more secure placement of dental implants.