Oral Surgery

Damage to the jawbone can occur in areas where there are missing teeth. The jawbone can deteriorate and change the facial structure and make it unsuitable for a dental implant. Luckily, today’s technology can repair the inadequate bone in preparation for dental implants through bone grafting, restoring functionality and esthetic appearance.

Botox is composed of botulinum toxin, a form of a purified protein used to treat a number of cosmetic and oral issues. It is injected into the facial muscles and blocks the nerve transmission to those muscles. As a result, the dynamic motion in the skin is relaxed, allowing the wrinkles to smooth and disappear. Common injection sites include the forehead, the area between the eyebrows, the corners of the eyes, and the sides of the chin.

For patients looking to regain the youthful fullness of their face, dermal fillers are a safe and effective way to decrease the wrinkles around the mouth and eyes, plump the lips, and soften facial creases. A faster and less expensive alternative to a surgical facelift, dermal fillers have a similar effect without the recovery time.

While the use of a local anesthetic to prevent pain is sufficient for many oral surgery patients, sedation or general anesthesia may be appropriate to ensure the safe and efficient delivery of oral surgery procedures. Most commonly given by means of an injection or as an inhalant, general anesthesia describes a mixture of potent medications that are used to induce a sleep-like state. Sedation and general anesthesia are safely and effectively used for thousands of oral surgery procedures each year. 

Depending on the oral surgery procedure, your oral surgeon may determine that you only need a relatively small area to be numbed so that your visit is comfortable and pain-free. There are two kinds of numbing injections. A block injection numbs an entire region of your mouth, such as one side of your lower jaw while an infiltration injection numbs a smaller area.

When a tooth is extracted, the procedure leaves behind a small hole where the tooth once was. This socket can be very sensitive at first, which is why your provider may recommend socket preservation to go along with your extraction.

A socket or alveolar ridge preservation procedure involves placing a bone graft into the socket, where the tooth once was. The goal of socket preservation is to improve the appearance of the remaining teeth and gums and to make the process of getting a dental implant at a later visit less complicated.

Soft tissue grafting is often necessary to combat gum recession. Periodontal disease, trauma, aging, over-brushing, and poor tooth positioning are the leading causes of gum recession, which can lead to tooth-root exposure in severe cases. Recent developments in dental technology have made soft tissue grafting more predictable and less intrusive.