Oral Surgery
Why get oral surgery?
Oral medicine is a vast science concerned with various oral diseases. With science and medicine growing every day, new specialties emerged to accurately deal with every disease with the best treatment plan.
Subspecialties give the doctors the required expertise to deal with this kind of problem and cover all its possible aspects to give the patient the best experience possible when managing his/her dental problem.
What Is Oral Surgery?
Oral surgery is a recognized subspecialty of oral medicine it is concerned with surgical solutions for different oral diseases, injuries, defects of the head, neck, face, mouth, jaw, and teeth.
What treatment modalities does oral surgery include?
While the removal of wisdom teeth is the most well-known type of oral surgery, there are many reasons why oral surgery may be required, including:
• Tooth extractions
• Dental implants
• Bone grafting for implants
• Root canals
• Periodontal treatment
• Impacted wisdom tooth
• Taking Biopsies
• Reconstructive surgery.
• Sublingual gland removal.
• Submandibular gland removal.
• Laser-assisted procedures.
• Cosmetic dental procedures
• Mandibular/ maxillary reconstruction.
• Oral cancer screening and treatment.
• TMJ disorders.
• Orthodontic treatment.
• Cleft lip and palate repair team.
• Snoring and sleep apnea.
Does oral surgery require special preparations?
Like any other surgery, oral surgery demands certain preparations pre-operatively. This includes:
• Assessment and treatment plan.
• Case discussion with patient.
• Patient preparation:
It is better not to eat for at least 6 hours before the surgery.
If you suffer from any chronic disease you must inform your oral surgeon. For example, if you are a diabetic then your dentist and endocrinologist must cooperate together to control our blood sugar levels before surgery. If you are on blood thinners like aspirin or heparin, then your hematologist must adjust your dosage to prevent bleeding.
Preoperative antibiotics: The AHA recommends the administration of antibiotics preoperatively to patients at risk of bacteremia. Those patients include patients with prosthetic heart valves, patients with a previous history of endocarditis and also patients who had a heart transplant.
What Postoperative care does oral surgery require?
Although surgeries and their steps differ from each other, most of the surgeries share common postoperative care instructions that include
• Rest between one day to over 2 weeks. Use extra pillows to sleep upright.
• Avoid strenuous activity.
• Follow cleaning techniques as recommended by your doctor. You may be advised not to brush your teeth at first, as your mouth and teeth are still too sensitive for harsh brushing. You can use mouthwashes instead only if cleared by your dentist to avoid clot dislodgement.
• Use ice packs: To reduce the postsurgical edema and bruises of the procedure, it is best to use ice packs on your cheek and the impacted area. If you had surgery on both sides of your mouth then its best to alternate between cheeks to avoid freeze burns.
• Notice the complications: If you have severe pain, fever, or notice pus you have to contact your doctor immediately.
• Avoid bleeding by gently biting on a sterile gauze to slow it down. If it lasts more than one day then contact your doctor as immediately.
• Don’t smoke: Quitting smoking for a few days before and after surgery helps in healing.
• Avoid hard too hot, too cold, spicy and sticky food, take soft food like yogurts, soup, oatmeal, and ice cream.
• Take pain killers as prescribed by your doctor:
• Watch for warning signs: Like fever, unresolved swelling, troubled breathing or an emerging allergy.
• Attend follow up appointments
