Oral Surgery at 1st Family Dental
For your convenience, at 1st Family Dental we provide most dental specialties in-office, including oral surgery. Our goal is to provide a fantastic patient experience and that starts by not having to refer our patients to other local specialists. At 1st Family Dental, we take pride in having a full-service dental clinics throughout Chicago, IL and the suburbs.
Below are some of the advanced procedures that our oral surgeons are able to provide for our patients in-office:
Bone Grafting and Dental Implants
A dental implant is the most common replacement for a missing tooth. Implants consist of a titanium post covered by a crown or denture. If you are missing several teeth, overdentures and bridges are a great solution. We offer All on 6 implant procedure, which is one the best treatment options for replacing many missing teeth. In fact, All on 6 removes the hassle of dentures by allowing you to use overdentures, which connect to the implants to avoid movement and slipping of the dentures, or use bridges which do not need to be removed for cleaning like overdentures.
When teeth are missing and not attached to the jaw, the bone is not stimulated and can quickly weaken — so much so that it might not be able to support dental implants when you are ready to have the teeth replaced. You may already be familiar with the concept of bone grafting from other types of surgery. Did you know that it applies to oral surgery, too?
Bone grafting involves taking bone from another part of your body, or using a special bone grafting material, and using it to reinforce your jawbone prior to adding dental implants. Minor bone grafts can be done at the same time as the implants are added, while larger grafts will need to be done in a separate procedure. Advances in dental implants have reduced the need to do this for most implants, but it is still necessary in some cases. We are proud to be able to provide this service in-office rather than having to refer you to an external specialist.
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is a complicated name for just about any procedure needed to correct issues with the mouth, jaws, neck, and facial structure. This includes everything from removing wisdom teeth to rebuilding entire jaws, teeth, nose, and more.
Many of these surgeries occur as a result of traumas such as sports injuries, car accidents, or falls. Our oral surgeon at 1st Family Dental can provide both emergency services and long-term reconstruction plans.
Your teeth are connected to every part of your face in some way, and our surgeons are trained to work on all parts of the face through a combination of dental and medical schooling. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons typically have practices separate from dentists; we are very fortunate to have one on staff at 1st Family Dental.
Surgical Extraction – Impacted Wisdom Tooth Extraction
Surgical extraction is most commonly needed for removing wisdom teeth, but the procedure is performed on any tooth or teeth that are impacted. When a tooth is impacted, it is fully below the gumline and requires cutting into the mouth and gums to remove it.
This is a more involved process than having a tooth extracted in a dentist’s office. It is typically performed by an oral surgeon with the patient under general anesthesia or IV sedation. Similar to surgery on any other part of the body, there is usually some recovery time involved before you are back to normal and a follow up appointment to ensure that you are healing properly after the surgery.
Extractions can be scheduled after meeting with the oral surgeon, but are sometimes needed after emergencies if teeth or other parts of the face become compromised. In cases like this, the emergency room may refer you to our office.