When you require effective, expertly delivered oral surgery in Salem, OR, you can trust the skilled team at Oregon Wisdom Teeth! Our team takes pride in offering state-of-the-art, personalized and affordable dentistry in Salem and beyond, including oral surgery and sedation dentistry for those who need it.
Sedation Dentistry for Oral Surgeries
To ensure a comfortable treatment experience for each of our patients, Oregon Wisdom Teeth offers safe, advanced sedation dentistry services. With various levels of conscious sedation, including laughing gas sedation, oral pre-medication, IV sedation and even deeper conscious sedation provided by a dental anesthesiologist, we can help patients with dental anxiety, special healthcare needs, or who require oral surgery. When you visit our Salem dental office for your surgical consultation, Dr. Brannen will assess your needs and medical history to determine the safest, most effective sedation level for you.
At Oregon Wisdom Teeth, our top surgical treatments include:
Wisdom Tooth Removal
Wisdom teeth, often referred to as third molars, are located in the very back of your mouth and usually appear in the late teens or early twenties. Left untreated, wisdom tooth eruption or impaction may cause gum tenderness, swelling, and even severe pain. Impacted wisdom teeth that are partially or fully erupted tend to be quite difficult to clean and are susceptible to tooth decay, recurring infections, and even gum disease.
Fortunately, the team at Oregon Wisdom Teeth specializes in the extraction of wisdom teeth, even impacted wisdom teeth!
At our Salem dental office, the wisdom tooth removal process will begin with your dentist numbing the area around the tooth with a local anesthetic. Since the impacted tooth may still be under the gums and embedded in your jawbone, your dentist will need to remove a portion of the covering bone to extract the tooth. To minimize the amount of bone that is removed from the tooth, Dr. Brannen will often “section” your wisdom tooth so that each piece can be removed through a small opening in the bone. Once your wisdom teeth have been extracted, the healing process begins. Depending on the degree of difficulty related to the extraction, healing time varies. Your dentist will share with you what to expect and provide instructions for a comfortable, efficient healing process.
Tooth Extractions
Whether you need to have one tooth or multiple teeth extracted, it can always be performed in a safe and comfortable setting right here at our Salem, OR dental office! It may become necessary to remove a tooth due to excess damage, decay, and improper growth. When a baby tooth becomes misshapen, long tooth roots prevent it from falling out as it should, and the tooth must be removed to make way for the permanent tooth to erupt. At other times, a tooth may have so much decay that it puts the surrounding teeth at risk of decay. Infection, orthodontic correction, or problems with a wisdom tooth can also require the removal of a tooth.
When it is determined that a tooth needs to be removed, the root of each tooth is encased within the jawbone in a “tooth socket,” and the tooth is held in that socket by a ligament. To extract a tooth, your dentist must expand the socket and separate the tooth from the ligament holding it in place. While this procedure is typically very quick, it is important to share with your doctor any concerns or preferences for sedation.
Dental Implant Restorations
If you are missing teeth, long-lasting tooth replacement is essential to maintaining your functional smile, including the ability to chew, eat, and laugh with ease.
A dental implant is a new tooth made of metal and porcelain that looks just like your natural tooth. It’s composed of two main parts: one part is the titanium implant body that takes the place of the missing root, and the second part is the tooth-colored crown that is cemented on top of the implant. With implant treatment, you can smile confidently knowing no one will ever suspect you have a replacement tooth.
Dental implants may also be used to anchor dentures, especially lower dentures that tend to shift when you talk or chew. For patients with removable partial dentures, implants can replace missing teeth to restore a more natural-looking smile.
Bone Graft Surgery
Also called regenerative surgery, a bone graft is used to recreate bone and soft supporting tissues loss. If you have periodontal disease, you may be losing bone support around your teeth, and in order to avoid extractions, it may recommend regrowing and regenerating the lost bone with a bone graft surgery.
Ridge Augmentation
A common use of bone grafting is for ridge augmentation. Ridge augmentation can recapture the natural contour of your gums and jaw after the loss of a tooth as a result of trauma, congenital anomalies, infection, or periodontal disease.
Achieving an ideal amount of gum and bone as a support to surrounding restorations or implants may require hard and soft tissue reconstruction. After the loss of one or more teeth, the jawbone may recede, resulting in the gums and jawbone becoming indented where the tooth or teeth used to be. Ridge augmentation uses bone and tissue-grafting procedures to fill in the indented area of the jaw and gums, leaving you with a smooth gum line that coexists with your new restoration or dental implant.
Schedule Your Your Surgical Consultation
Oregon Wisdom Teeth is ready to ensure your surgical treatment is seamless and comfortable! Your oral surgery will begin with a consultation with our dentist, to design a customized treatment plan that fits you best. Contact us today to schedule your visit!
