Enhance Your Oral Health and Quality of Life: The Advantages of Oral Surgery
Oral health is vital to your physical health and overall quality of life. While often underrated, oral issues like tooth decay and gum disease can affect oral comfort, smile, and diet and increase your risk of serious health issues like heart attacks and diabetes, greatly affecting your quality of life.
When dealing with oral issues, oral surgery may be necessary to restore your smile’s health, function, and aesthetics and improve your day-to-day life. This article explores several common oral surgery procedures, their risks and complications, and practical tips for a seamless recovery after surgery.
Common Oral Surgery Procedures: What You Need To Know
Oral surgery can involve various procedures for conditions and injuries affecting the teeth, gums, jawbone, and face. Common oral surgery procedures include:
Wisdom teeth are the back molars that often emerge in late adolescence or early adulthood. Sometimes wisdom teeth may not have enough room to erupt or develop normally, which can lead to infections, misalignments, pain and discomfort, and teeth damage of the adjacent teeth.
Tooth extraction is often necessary to remove the tooth and alleviate existing and future problems. Since the impacted wisdom teeth are often trapped below the gum line, the extraction procedure is complex, necessitating surgical intervention.
Losing one or more teeth can give unsightly gaps in your smile, making you feel embarrassed or self-conscious to smile or speak confidently. Teeth gaps can also affect your speech and bite function, lead to jawbone resorption, and increase your risk of oral infections.
Dental implants offer a natural, stable, long-lasting solution to replace missing teeth. Dental implants are surgically fixed into the jawbone to serve as artificial roots. They provide a strong foundation for the artificial tooth (crown, bridge, or denture). Once healed, dental implants look, feel, and function like your teeth, providing a functional, healthier, and beautiful smile.
- Oral pathology
If your dentists have identified abnormal tissues like benign cysts, cancer tumors, or infections, they can recommend oral surgery to remove and treat the affected areas. Early detection and treatment of these conditions improve your quality of life and prevent severe future complications.
- Bone grafting
Tooth loss and advanced gum disease are common causes of jawbone deterioration or weakening. Bone grafting involves adding new bone tissues to the weakened jawbone to stimulate new bone growth and development. Bone grafting may be particularly necessary when getting dental implants. It also supports facial muscles, giving you a healthier, youthful, and confident smile.
- Corrective jaw surgery
This surgery corrects minor and complex issues involving teeth and skeletal irregularities, such as misalignments. It can align your bite and improve chewing, speaking, aesthetics, self-confidence, and overall quality of life.
Risks and Complications of Oral Surgery: How to Minimize Them
Like most surgical procedures, oral surgery comes with potential risks and complications like:
- Infections
- Inflammation
- Bleeding
- Injuries to nearby structures like teeth, jawbone, gums, cheeks, sinuses, chin, and maxillofacial bones
- TMJ disorders
- Severe pain and discomfort
- Fever
- Nerve damage
- Side effects of anesthesia
Use the tips below to minimize your risk of post-surgery side effects and complications:
- Choose a qualified oral surgeon. Working with a highly qualified and experienced oral surgeon significantly reduces the risk of postoperative complications.
- Follow your surgeon’s instructions. Strictly follow your surgeon’s before and aftercare instructions.
- Seek prompt care. Most issues are easy to treat or manage when detected early. Early treatments reduce the risk of complications.
- Address complications promptly. Contact your surgeon or dentist in Northeast Calgary if you notice any concerning symptoms like severe pain, excessive bleeding, fever, or worsening swelling. Immediate care can help prevent major complications.
Recovery Tips for a Smooth Oral Surgery Experience
Below are additional tips for a smooth oral surgery recovery:
- Follow postoperative instructions. Follow your surgeon’s aftercare instructions regarding medications, oral hygiene, diet, and other issues.
- Take medication as prescribed. Take all the medication exactly as recommended by your surgeon.
- Rest and keep your head elevated. Enough rest is essential to allow your body to recover quickly. Strenuous activities can cause pressure on the surgical site, leading to further bleeding, pain, swelling, and delayed healing.
- Use cold therapy. Applying ice packs against the surgical site can help minimize pain and swelling after oral surgery.
- Watch your diet. Only take soft and cool foods to avoid disturbing the surgical site. Avoid hard, crunchy, sticky, spicy, sugary, or acidic foods and beverages. Stay hydrated.
- Avoid smoking and alcohol. Tobacco and alcoholic products can delay healing after oral surgery, increasing the risk of infections and other complications.
- Regular follow-ups. Ensure you attend all your follow-up appointments for a successful and long-term recovery.
Learn more about oral surgery in Calgary, AB.
Are you considering oral surgery? Or do you have untreated oral issues that lower your quality of life? Contact Sunridge Dental Clinic to book your consultation with our dentist near you.