Oral Surgery
The term “surgery” may sound serious but oral surgery is a routine procedure that dentists do in their offices. It’s a broad classification for any invasion operation a dentist or specialist may do on your gums, teeth, jaw, or other parts of your mouth. It runs the range of performing a tooth extraction to corrective jaw surgery.
Oral surgery may be needed for many different reasons and some cases may be more serious than others. Typically, some type of anesthesia is used, mostly local anesthesia in the majority of cases. However, more extensive oral surgeries may require general anesthesia.
Reasons to Get Oral Surgery
Oral surgeries can be used to resolve a whole host of mouth problems but dentists don’t do them arbitrarily. They are typically used for some of the following situations:
- There is a lot of tooth decay
- Teeth are broken
- There is extensive gum disease
- Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD)
- Oral cancer
- Sleep apnea
What Happens During Oral Surgery?
Oral surgery can be divided into three parts, evaluation, the surgery, and aftercare. Oral surgery is done as an outpatient in the dentist’s office. Sedation therapy is available to make it more comfortable. Some cases may require surgery to be done in a hospital with general anesthesia. The time it takes to do oral surgery depends on the case but it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours.
The Evaluation
All oral surgery or dental procedure requires a proper evaluation and X-rays. Your teeth will be cleaned before the dentist looks at your mouth. Your dentist will make recommendations for any oral surgeries and create a treatment plan based on the exam and X-rays.
The Surgical Procedure
A dental assistant will likely check your vitals before the dentist starts surgery. This means they will look at your blood pressure and oxidation level to ensure it’s safe to perform the surgery. They will also start any sedation therapy and apply necessary topical and local anesthesia to alleviate pain. You will be awake for any procedure done in a dental office, although sedation therapy puts you in a “twilight” zone.
Aftercare
Your dentist will always give you post-surgery instructions. A big part of that will be what you can eat, drink, and usually a warning not to use straws as sucking movements can open the wound. The dentist may also give you a prescription for antibiotics to prevent infection.