COMMON ORAL SURGERY PROCEDURES

There are different kinds of oral surgeries and procedures performed on the mouth. Many of these different procedures are split into sub categories, but knowing and understanding these different procedures is helpful when it comes down to determining what sort of procedure is going to be performed on you and what all might be required. With all of these different procedures in question, some are much more common than others, and while you might have heard of some of these procedures, there are others that might be completely new and foreign to you. 

Endodontic Surgery

Endodontic surgery is anything that involves the pulp inside of the tooth or root. A root canal is the most common form of this surgery and it is extremely common. There are different offshoots of this though. Both pulpotomy and pulpectomy are associated with a root canal and might eventually lead to a root canal, but are not the same procedure. With a pulpotomy, the dentist is going to open up a chamber in the tooth in order to drain an infection. From here, the dentist can determine whether or not they need to remove the rest of the pulp and perform a full root canal. With a pulpectomy, the pulp in the chamber of the tooth is only removed temporarily in order to reduce pain in the tooth, although it is eventually put back into the tooth. Beyond a root canal, there is something known as an apicoectomy. This is when the dentist needs to not only perform a root canal but remove a part of the tooth called the apex as well in order to extract diseased material from the tooth.

Prosthodontics

These procedures are extremely common and revolve around dental prosthetics. A crown is a cap that is placed over an existing tooth that might have a strong root structure, but the exterior of the tooth is deteriorating. A bridge is a prothesis that connects two crowns together with a fake tooth placed in between the crowns. This is done when there are two healthy teeth and an empty, missing tooth in between. An implant is done when a titanium screw or post is inserted through the gums (or even the jaw bone) and a fake tooth is placed over the top. Veneers is similar to a crown, except it is just a covering placed on the front of the tooth. Lastly, dentures, ranging from removable to implanted and permanent teeth falls under this category as well.

Orthodontic Surgery

This is another common type of oral surgery that is performed. It can cover implants, apiectomy, which is where the bone structure of the jaw or different teeth needs to be removed or restructured, and an extraction, where a tooth is removed from the gums. The tooth might be removed due to dental decay, which can prevent it from spreading the problem to other teeth, or the removal of wisdom teeth as well.

Now, there are other forms of oral surgery, which includes reconstruction of the jaw bone in order to prevent it from cracking, popping or to simply improve the bite as well. While there are all sorts of different kinds of oral surgery procedures in question, these mentioned are the most common and are all important for different potential oral conditions.