What is Oral Surgery?
While our team at Deer Valley Dental Care will always try to use the least invasive option possible to solve an oral health issue, sometimes these less intense options are simply not enough, and surgery is required.
The term 'oral surgery' encompasses both the diagnosis and treatments of diseases, injuries, and defects of the hard and soft tissues in your mouth, teeth, and jaws.
The dentists at our South East Calgary clinic can perform oral surgery to extract decaying teeth or wisdom teeth. Additional procedures regularly performed by our dentists include dental implants, gum grafts, bone grafts, and frenectomies.
Dental Implants
Dental implants can be used to replace one missing tooth or many missing teeth. During a dental implant procedure, a small titanium screw is surgically implanted into your jaw. This screw will then bond to your gums and jaw, and once healed, will serve as the base for a tooth replacement, such as a crown or a bridge.
Gum Grafts
Gum grafts are performed to help cover exposed tooth roots and repair receding gums. These grafts can help reduce pain caused by tooth sensitivity, and can help prevent a tooth from needing to be pulled. During the procedure, your dentist will take some gum tissue from the roof of your mouth and transplant it into the affected area.
Tooth Extractions
While our Calgary dentists will always do what we can to save a natural tooth, sometimes it's too far gone, and the tooth will need to be pulled. This usually happens as a result of advanced decay, gum disease, or injury.
Wisdom Tooth Removal
Wisdom teeth are the final set of molars that come through in the back corners of a regular adult mouth. However, these teeth can cause problems if they don't come in all way, or come in incorrectly, and they may need to be removed.
Frenectomy
The goal of a frenectomy is to remove your frenum, which is a small piece of tissue that connects your gum area to your cheeks, lips, or tongue. This procedure is usually performed on patients when the frenum is restricting function, a condition commonly called tongue-tied or cheek-tied.
Bone Grafts & Sinus Lifts
During a bone graft, your dentist will add extra bone tissue to your jaw to reinforce it, and make it stronger, usually in preparation for a dental implant. Similarly, a sinus lift is when bone is added to the upper back of the jaw to raise and support the bone in preparation for a dental implant.