Oral Surgery Procedures

Why Oral Surgery?

Sometimes our patients require more extensive and involved dental treatments to preserve or restore their oral health.

During your regular dental exams at our office, we screen for a wide range of issues, some of which may necessitate one of the following procedures:

Implants

Dental implants are small titanium screws that are placed into your jaw by a skilled dental surgeon where natural teeth have been lost or are missing.  They function like a natural tooth root.  Dental implants provide a permanent, natural-looking replacement for missing teeth that function and feel just like your real teeth do.

It is important to replace missing teeth, since leaving the spaces empty results in significant bone loss over time, over-eruption of opposing teeth, shifting or tipping of neighboring teeth and changes in facial structure.

Once the dental implant has had a period of healing (typically 4-6 months), your Winnipeg dentist will place an abutment (extension post) and crown on the dental implant providing a secure, stable and natural looking replacement for the tooth you have lost.

Dental implants are an effective and long-lasting way to replace missing teeth and preserve your oral structures.

Bone Grafts

A dental bone graft involves augmenting the existing bone in your jaw.  The most common bone graft is a called a "socket graft or socket preservation" whereby particulate matter is placed into the socket after a tooth is removed.

The socket graft helps to preserve the height and width of the bone where the natural tooth used to be, enabling preservation of facial esthetics and maintenance of bone volume for implant placement.

Other more complex types of dental bone grafts include block grafts and sinus grafts which may be required when teeth have been missing for longer periods of time.

Gum Grafts

A gum graft (also known as a gingival graft) is a surgical procedure in which gum tissue is grafted in order to cover tooth roots that have been exposed as a result of gum recession.

Extractions

Although removing a tooth is generally considered a last resort, there are certain situations in which it is the most appropriate option.

If your tooth is badly damaged from an injury or as a result of decay, and cannot be repaired via less invasive methods (like fillings, root canals, inlays, onlays or crowns, for instance) then the tooth must be removed to the preserve the health of the other teeth, and the rest of your mouth.

In this case, a tooth replacement like a dental implant, fixed bridge or denture is recommended.

Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom teeth come in much later than the other permanent teeth (in your late teens or early 20s, typically) and are completely superfluous.

Wisdom teeth can cause a host of dental problems. Due to their position at the back of the mouth, wisdom teeth are often difficult to clean and maintain resulting in tooth decay and gingivitis.

They may only partially erupt and get stuck under the gum line creating an area that periodically becomes swollen and painful. 

Wisdom teeth may also grow in the wrong direction or position contributing to crowding of other teeth.

For these reasons and because they don't serve any useful purpose, dentists often recommend extracting the wisdom teeth to prevent oral health problems from developing.