Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Oral and maxillofacial surgery is known as a branch of medicine that broadly covers the discipline of dental and oral health. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons can perform successful interventions on teeth, gums, jaw bones and oral fillings with various techniques.

Oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery specialists provide services to patients on issues such as tooth extraction, implant applications, jaw fractures, cleaning of intra-oral cysts and tumors. In addition, experts are knowledgeable about issues such as jaw discrepancies, sleep apnea and facial trauma.

Oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery is a discipline that exists to protect the oral health of patients and to eliminate problems before complications arise. By combining their knowledge with technological developments, experts can apply the most special treatment methods to patients today. In this way, patients can easily achieve the smile they have always wanted, along with trouble-free oral health.

What is Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery?

Oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery, also known as oral and maxillofacial surgery in medical terms, are operations performed by highly trained dental surgeons. The treatment procedures performed at this point are performed under local anesthesia so that the patients do not feel pain. In addition, general anesthesia methods may be preferred in some patients with the decision of the dentist.

Within the scope of the discipline of Oral, Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery, complex tooth extractions, impacted tooth surgeries, cyst operations, fracture treatment, cleft treatment, treatment of salivary gland diseases and treatment of congenital disorders in the jaw structure are performed.

In recent years, many people resort to oral, dental and jaw surgery for many reasons such as wear and tear on the palate and jaw joint pain. In addition, not being able to bite, swallow and chew food is often shown as an oral, dental and jaw surgery problem. It is also worth noting that you should consult an oral and maxillofacial surgeon for problems that occur with abnormal mouth opening, such as noisy breathing, difficulty in speaking or snoring.

What Services Can Be Provided Within the Scope of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery?

It is observed that many different treatment services can be provided within the scope of oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery with the advancement of technology and the development of discipline. While this situation makes everyone who wants to protect their oral health very happy, it also allows surgeons to gain experience. Here are all the details about the services offered by oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery;

• Tooth Extractions

Tooth extractions, which are generally thought to be one of the simplest procedures, can often become complicated while involving various problems. At this point, long and complicated interventions may be required for patients with tooth root fractures. When the tooth root is broken, local anesthesia is first applied to the patient who will undergo tooth extraction and the operation process is started. By removing the gum, oral, dental and jaw surgery ensures that the tooth root is completely removed and the problem area is stitched.

• Empacted Tooth Surgery

Impacted teeth, which are the nightmares of people who care about their oral and dental health, are seen in cases where the teeth come to the surface in a limited area or cannot come out at all. During impacted tooth surgery, local anesthesia is applied and treatment is started. Before the procedure, the surgeon first examines the condition and position of the impacted tooth. Teeth that can be removed at once are easily removed, but in more complicated cases, it is also known that the tooth is removed piece by piece. After all parts of the tooth are removed, the operation is completed by stitching the area and waiting for the area to heal.

• Cyst Treatment

Cysts are unwanted lesions that appear in the gums and are usually filled with fluid. It is also known that these lesions can be seen on tooth roots or jawbone. Cysts, which have an insidious structure, are quite difficult to see at first glance, and the necessary intervention can be complicated. The best way to diagnose a cyst is to have regular dental checkups. During regular check-ups, lesions that grow and put pressure on the jawbone are easily detected in advance. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons usually treat cysts with root canal treatment, and in this way, the patient’s tooth is not removed.

• Implant

Implants are screw-like parts that are frequently preferred in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery and are coated with titanium material and placed in the cavities inside the mouth. Implant treatment can be easily applied to all areas with tooth loss by the relevant discipline. Once the applied implants’ healing time to the bone is completed successfully, prostheses are applied on them. These dental prostheses are preferred as porcelain or zirconium. 

• No Fractures to the Jaw and Facial Area

Fractures in the jaw and facial area are traumas that require urgent and serious treatments, and interventions are handled by oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery. In such cases, if there is no rapid response to trauma, even life-threatening situations can be observed in patients. Patients who have difficulty eating are bandaged and processed by an oral, dental and maxillofacial surgeon and are prevented from making any movements. Treatment method is planned for the fractures that occur and wire application is generally preferred. Healing of fractures can sometimes take up to 6 weeks.

• Cleft Lip and Palate

Cleft lip and palate is a problem that usually occurs due to congenital deficiencies during development in the womb. Problems such as difficulty eating, difficulty speaking and difficulty swallowing are frequently encountered in children whose lip and palate development is not complete. At this point, oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery and treatments for cleft lip and palate should begin in infancy. Otherwise, it is very possible not to get any results from the procedures performed in adulthood.

• Problems in Salivary Glands

Due to today’s life stress and irregular eating habits, problems in the salivary glands appear in different ways. The most common of these problems is known as infections. Oral and maxillofacial surgery specialists will start administering antibiotics for infections in the glands. However, tumor formations seen in some advanced cases are known to be a sign of more serious problems. Therefore, during your oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery appointments, make sure that your dentist carefully monitors tumor formations and performs biopsies when necessary.

• Disorders in Jaw Structure

Defects in the jaw structure, which are frequently encountered today, may cause difficulty in eating or speech problems in patients. For this reason, it is essential to treat congenital jaw structure disorders quickly. Among the most common jaw complications for years is one of the jaws being either forward or backward or the jaw not fully developing. In such problems, oral, dental and jaw surgery comes into play and dentists aim to correct the problems by applying braces. However, in cases where problems are too advanced to be treated with braces, doctors need to perform some surgeries.