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Dental problems can become debilitating. They can affect your everyday routine from eating to talking to just enjoying life. The pain that comes with dental issues can be unbearable, which is why it is important to see your dentist for any concern that you might have.
While some problems with your mouth might be simple and easy to take care of, others might require more intense treatment methods, including surgery. Listed below are the different types of conditions that are treated with oral surgery.
Conditions Treated with Oral Surgery
Tooth Extraction
This is the most common type of oral surgery. As the name implies, a tooth that has been damaged or infected is removed from the mouth, along with any lingering infection. However, not all teeth have to be removed. In some cases, a root canal can be performed where the infected root and/or decayed nerve is removed while the tooth is left in place. In some cases, tooth restoration can occur, which involves covering the affected part of the tooth with a crown.
Impacted Teeth
Sometimes, your jaw isn’t large enough to contain all of your teeth, so they don’t grow all the way and get trapped between your jaw and gum tissue. This can be especially true for wisdom teeth, but any tooth in your mouth has the capacity to be impacted. When this happens, the chances of infections in the gum tissues increase, and it can also lead to pain and swelling. In worst-case scenarios, impacted teeth can permanently damage teeth in their vicinity of the bone or even cause cysts or tumors. Removing impacted teeth can help prevent these things from happening.
Dental Implants
In some cases, teeth are lost due to accidents or infections, and as an alternative to dentures or bridges, implants are surgically emplaced. This procedure involves anchoring tooth root substitutes to the jawbone so that artificial teeth can be attached.
Problems with the Jaw
This category of oral surgery encompasses a variety of different procedures from guaranteeing that dentures will fit properly to correcting temporomandibular joint disorders and unequal jaw growth. Correcting these issues can help improve eating ability, speaking, swallowing, and breathing.
Oral surgery can also be used to correct facial injuries or help with sleep apnea and snoring. It can repair a cleft palate or be used for biopsies or the removal of lesions. Your dentist will help determine what procedure is best for you and your health.
