Oral Surgical procedures
We have all facilities for minor oral surgical procedures which can be carried out in a dental clinic set up without general anaesthesia. Common surgical procedures include:
Surgical removal of impacted wisdom tooth
Wisdom teeth, otherwise known as third molars, are the last set of teeth to develop. Sometimes one or more of these third molars fails to emerge in proper alignment or fails to fully emerge through the gum line and becomes entrapped or “impacted” between the jawbone and the last molar tooth. Impacted wisdom teeth can result in swelling, pain, and infection of the gum tissue surrounding the wisdom teeth. In addition, impacted wisdom teeth can cause permanent damage to nearby teeth, gums, and bone and can sometimes lead to the formation of cysts or tumours that can destroy sections of the jaw. Therefore, dentists recommend people with impacted wisdom teeth have them surgically removed.
Removal of Impacted Canine Teeth
It’s not just wisdom teeth that sometimes become impacted and need to be removed. Other teeth, such as the canines and the premolars can become impacted and can cause the same types of problems described with impacted wisdom teeth.
Exposing Impacted Teeth (Expose and Bond) as Part of Orthodontic Treatment
Sometimes these impacted canines and premolars can be brought into proper position by orthodontic treatment rather than being removed. The impacted tooth is surgically exposed to fix an orthodontic bracket to the tooth. This bracket will then be connected to the patient’s braces. The orthodontist will then work to gradually bring the tooth into the proper position.
Apicoectomy
It is a surgical procedure done when a root canal treated tooth gets infected again. Also, there are times when a root canal treatment alone may not be sufficient to cure the infection which has spread beyond the tooth root and into the surrounding bone. In such cases apicoectomy is done along with root canal treatment. During an apicoectomy, the surgeon removes the infected portion of the tooth’s root in order to clear the infection from the tooth and surrounding bone and then fills the root to prevent future infections.
Pre-prosthetic Surgery
Sometimes correction of irregularities of the jaws may be required prior to fabrication of dentures to ensure a better fit. The bone and gum surface is surgically reshaped so as to give a better seating to the dentures.
Dr. Ajay Haridas has twenty five years of clinical experience in oral surgery. He is also proficient in implantology and laser dentistry.