Oral surgeons are the dentists who take additional post-graduate education on specific fields to diagnose and treat the defects, and injuries of the mouth, teeth, jaws, and face. They are fully equipped to provide patients a safe and effective dental procedure with proper medications. Oral surgeons in Sydney are well-trained to safely administer anaesthesia in the oral and maxillo-facial surgery to meet the special needs of patients and procedures.
Oral Surgeon vs. Dental Surgeon
A dental surgeon is trained on performing surgeries in the mouth, whereas oral surgeons are specialised dentists who only perform oral surgery. Some dental surgeon limit their practise to oral surgery as well and usually become very skilful in this field.
Here is a list of dental procedures often performed by oral surgeons or dental surgeons.
Wisdom Tooth Removal
One of the most common oral surgeries performed by oral surgeons is the wisdom teeth removal. Wisdom teeth are the last set of teeth to erupt and can create numerous problems for patients when gets impacted. When trapped in the gum, these impacted teeth can lead to dental problems such as pain, infection or misalignment of other teeth. This complex procedure can be completed within a few hours in an outpatient setting by an oral surgeon.
Dental Implants
Today, dental implant is the popular procedure to replace the missing teeth. Unlike bridges or dentures, these implants will not affect the neighbouring healthy teeth or lead to bone loss in the jaw. Since, the oral surgeons are specially trained in dealing with the complexities of the bone, skin, muscles and nerves involved, they can perform implant surgery in a shorter time providing the best possible results. This procedure can also be performed in an outpatient setting.
All on 4 Dental Implants
In the past few years, all-on-4 dental implants has revolutionised the implant dentistry and enables the replacement of an entire arch of teeth using 4 anchor implant fixtures. This procedure ensures the bone stability and eliminates the need for bone graft surgery. All-on-4 implants require professional hands because it requires a deep research on evaluating the kind of dental implant options a patient needs.
Bone Grafting
Bone grafting will be recommended by an oral surgeon only if your jaw bone is too thin or soft to keep the implant in place in its current state. The best oral surgeon in Sydney uses a special bone grafting material to create enough strong bone to place an implant stable and secure.
In addition to these they also specialise in other treatment options like Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, sleep apnoea and more. These surgeons can also offer oral appliance therapy to address sleep apnoea in patients.