Oral Surgery

Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a surgical specialty focusing on surgery of the mouth, including teeth and gums, and maxillofacial surgery involves the jaw, head, or face.

Not all oral surgery procedures indicate a serious condition, and many are commonplace. Some of the oral surgery procedures performed in our Chesapeake, Virginia office, are completed on an outpatient basis.

If you require a complex oral surgery procedure, you’ll be in the expert hands of a premier Chesapeake, VA, oral surgeon or endodontist, who handles complicated procedures focused on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the oral cavity, head and neck, mouth, and jaw that require intricate planning and preparation.

The average mouth holds 28 teeth. However, four other teeth, your third molars, often called “wisdom teeth,” are the last to erupt. Because there typically isn’t room in the mouth for these teeth, when they grow in, they can create a multitude of problems, some more serious than others.

Removing wisdom teeth early is recommended as it normally resolves or prevents these problems while decreasing the surgical risk involved with the procedure.

The surgeon and staff at Chesapeake Dental Specialists are committed to offering our patients the comfortable, anxiety-free experience sedation dentistry can provide.

Sedation is the use of medication to reduce pain and discomfort for patients during their dental procedure. You may wish for our professional and caring staff to administer sedation options for a root canal, periodontal services, oral surgery or surgical tooth extraction.

We believe oral health is essential to overall well-being and receiving dental care treatment shouldn’t be scary or painful. That’s why we offer effective and safe sedation options to help our patients feel calm and comfortable before, during, and after they visit to our office.

Types of sedation used in our office include:

• “Laughing gas,” which is nitrous oxide inhaled
• Oral sedation can be minimal or moderate and is in pill form
• IV sedation is administered through a vein
• General anesthesia is medication that will make you partially or totally unconscious

When replacing a missing or extracted tooth, an adequate amount of jawbone must be there to support the dental implant. When there’s not, a dental bone graft may be necessary. A bone graft is a surgical procedure requiring local anesthetic where the transplanted bone is used to repair a missing jawbone. A bone graft allows patients the possibility of a dental implant to restore the look, feel and appearance of natural teeth.

Even when you visit the dentist regularly and take good care of your teeth, unexpected situations can arise. That’s why our oral surgeon, proudly serving the greater Chesapeake, VA, region makes same-day emergency appointments available.

When you are experiencing pain in your teeth, mouth, jaw, or face, you don’t want to wait to get it checked out. If you need emergency treatment, we can get you in today during regular office hours. Schedule your same-day emergency appointment now.

Surgical tooth removal may be required when the removal of a tooth is more complicated than normal. Patients typically see an oral surgeon for surgical tooth extraction in situations where a filling or crown is not possible because of extensive decay or damage, the tooth does not respond to a root canal or is not supported by enough bone due to periodontal disease, is cracked or broken, or has long, curved roots. With the use of advanced surgical techniques and tools, the procedure can be safely completed.

A dental implant is a titanium post placed in the jawbone to act as a tooth root where a tooth is missing. An artificial tooth is then placed on top of the post to preserve the look, feel, and function of a natural tooth. Some dental implants may require two surgical procedures. However, through advanced technology, we can complete it in a single procedure. Patients who receive tooth implants can restore lost confidence as a result of missing teeth.

A change in the appearance of the skin inside the mouth can be a warning sign of a pathological process, which includes one of the most serious—oral cancer. An oral surgeon can conduct a comprehensive examination to determine the cause of suspicious lumps, sores, reddish or whitish patches, or other changes or abnormalities inside of the mouth. This area of dentistry and pathology covers a wide range of complex issues, so patients experiencing possible symptoms or warning signs can benefit from seeing an expert oral surgeon.

While many adults have wisdom teeth removed, other permanent teeth are meant to last a lifetime. However, there may be some situations where an extraction may be necessary, such as when a tooth is cracked, broke, decayed, infected, or to prepare for braces.

Tooth extraction is performed by an oral surgeon and may be a quick outpatient procedure. If the procedure is more complicated, for example, when the tooth is broken, impacted, or below the surface, it may take longer. Either way, to make sure your procedure is comfortable and pain-free, we will administer local, general, IV anesthesia, or a combination. Our goal is to provide as quick and safe a recovery as possible.

Exposure and bonding are a procedure to move an impacted tooth into proper alignment within the dental arch. An impacted tooth is one hidden below the gum tissue or in the jawbone. Wisdom teeth are impacted, however, and those are usually extracted to avoid infections or other significant problems.

Other teeth, such as the maxillary canine teeth, which are critical in the dental arch because they guide the rest of the teeth into the proper “bite,” are often exposed and bonded by an oral surgeon to be moved rather than extracted. Typically, an orthodontist would first place braces on the teeth to help shift them to make room for the impacted tooth. The orthodontist would then refer the patient to the oral surgeon for exposure and bonding.

This oral surgery procedure conducted in the Chesapeake, VA, office lifts the gum up to expose the impacted tooth and then bonds a small chain to it. After a couple of weeks, a patient will revisit the oral surgeon to have a tiny rubber band attached to the chain to gently pull the impacted tooth into the correct position. Our 3D imaging system helps provide a precise and safe exposure and bonding treatment. Moving the tooth into the correct position in the dental arch can take up to a year. Once the tooth is in its proper place, it may require minor surgery to ensure the gum is strong and healthy enough to support the tooth.

An anterior apicoectomy is a minor surgical procedure performed by a specialist on anterior teeth (those located at the front of the mouth), to help save them and promote tooth, bone, and gum tissue health, when a conventional root canal treatment is not feasible or is unsuccessful.

For this procedure, the specialist will make a small incision in the gum after it is numbed with local anesthesia. The tip of the tooth root will be removed, as well as any infected tissue around the root tip. A small filling is put in the end of the root canal, which is sealed to help prevent further infection. The gum incision is then sutured to ensure proper healing. A bone graft may also be necessary to help the bone grow back.

Our endodontist uses state-of-the-art equipment for precision and to ensure oral surgeries in our Chesapeake, VA, office are comfortable and successful.