When it comes to safeguarding your smile and oral health, it can seem like the control is the name of the game. In many ways, it is. Preventing common concerns like tooth decay or gum disease means taking control of your hygiene and preventing the excess buildup of oral bacteria. However, not all oral health concerns can be so easily controlled, and you may be at risk no matter how well you care for your smile on a daily basis. Today, we take a brief look at just a few of those concerns, and how oral surgery might be the most appropriate solution for treating them. (more…)
How Can Oral Surgery Improve Bite Function?
There are several instances that, if your oral health is ever faced with, can require more than routine dental care to address. Some of these involve the long-term health of your teeth and oral tissues, while others may have a bigger impact on your bite’s ability to function properly. In addition to preserving your teeth and keeping your oral tissues disease-free, your optimal oral health also depends on your bite’s function. Today, we examine a few ways in which the right surgical treatment may be able to help improve several areas of your bite function. (more…)
A Few Things to Know About Qualifying for Dental Implants
Rebuilding your smile with dental implants is one of the best things you can do after experiencing tooth loss. With their ability to replace your lost teeth roots and offer optimal support for your restoration, dental implants work to preserve the health and integrity of your smile and facial structures, as well as replace your lost teeth. At our Santa Rosa, CA, oral surgery office, we can help ensure that dental implants are your best option for replacing your lost teeth, and help make sure you qualify for dental implant treatment before recommending it. (more…)
The Longer You Wait to Extract a Tooth
There are several reasons why you might need to extract a tooth, so the specific dangers of waiting too long aren’t always the same for everyone. What’s common about tooth extraction, however, is that it isn’t recommended unless absolutely necessary. Since the need for it is often the result of an extreme dental health concern, waiting too long to extract the tooth could expose your oral health to significantly higher risks. Today, we examine why you shouldn’t wait to extract a tooth if it’s become necessary, and what some of the more common dangers of doing so include. (more…)
Things Everyone Should Know About Tooth Loss
Nearly everyone knows that it’s possible to lose one or more teeth as adults. In fact, many people expect it to happen to them at some point in their futures, if it hasn’t already. However, the impression that tooth loss is always inevitable, or that there’s nothing you can do to prevent it and its consequences, is a wrong one. At our Santa Rosa, CA, dental office, preventing and dealing with tooth loss are important aspects of the personalized care we provide to all of our patients. (more…)
Why Do Wisdom Teeth Hurt? And Other Important Questions
Most people recognize wisdom teeth for one thing above all else – the trouble they often cause. In fact, wisdom teeth are among the most frequently types of extracted teeth due to the numerous ways in which they can threaten your oral health. At our Santa Rosa, CA, oral surgery office, we understand well the complications that can arise when wisdom teeth start to act up. In many cases, that’s why we recommend extracting wisdom teeth as soon as possible, especially if they’ve already begun to cause problems. (more…)
Planning Prosthetic Dental Work After Your Extraction
There are circumstances where the best decision for a person’s overall oral health involves the extraction of their tooth. While you can be aware of the benefits to this extraction, the idea of showing off an incomplete smile may make you uncomfortable. Fortunately, our California oral surgery practice is prepared to take on an extraction and replacement of an unhealthy tooth! In some cases, we can actually move forward with plans to restore your smile by placing a dental implant after removing a tooth. Once the implant is set and properly healed, you can receive a lifelike restoration that makes biting, chewing, and smiling feel comfortable. (more…)
All-On-Four Treatment Can Make Smile Restoration Easier
While the use of dental implants in prosthetic dental work has led to better experiences with prosthetic appliances, people sometimes about the implant placement process. This can be especially true for those who have suffered significant losses, and worry that implant placement will be a prolonged and uncomfortable experience. With the All-On-Four procedure, our office is able to prepare a person for treatment while minimizing the number of implants they receive, and the work they must undergo. Rather than move forward with a process that requires a long recovery period, and may demand jawbone grafting, we can instead arrange to place four implants in carefully chosen areas to hold an appliance in position. (more…)
What Jawbone Grafting Has to Do with Dental Implants
The good news about dental implants is that they don’t just replace lost teeth roots, they also help preserve your jawbone’s strength and integrity by stimulating it. Every time you bite and chew with your new implants, the stimulation tells your body that your jawbone has teeth to support with minerals and nutrients. However, until a dental implant is placed, this stimulation is lacking, and so is the amount of nutrients your body sends your jawbone. The resulting drop in nutrient flow can lead to the loss of your jawbone’s mass and density, and if severe enough, it could mean that you should consider jawbone grafting before receiving your dental implants. (more…)
What’s the Difference Between General and Surgical Extraction?
Tooth extraction seems like a straightforward process, and in many ways it is. If a tooth is in a position that poses a threat to the rest of your oral health, or is too severely compromised to restore and save, then extracting it may be necessary. However, the specific method of extracting a tooth can vary, depending on the nature of why it needs to be extracted and the state of its remaining tooth structure. Today, we examine the difference between general and surgical tooth extraction, and the situations that might call for either. (more…)