Safe surgical procedures to benefit your oral health

Oral surgery covers any medical procedure that is performed on the mouth, especially involving your teeth, gums or jaw. At The Garden Dental & Implant Clinic, our oral surgery procedures include wisdom teeth removal, extractions and dental implant placement.

Wisdom teeth removal

Sometimes, there may not be room in your mouth for your wisdom teeth to erupt properly. As they come through, they may push against the teeth already there or start to emerge at an angle. When this happens, you might feel some pain or discomfort, so the best thing to do is visit your dentist for a check up.

During your appointment, we will take an x-ray of your mouth to see how – or if – your wisdom teeth are coming through. We will be able to make a judgement on whether your wisdom tooth needs to come out, and how easy or difficult this might be. Wisdom teeth removal can also be done under sedation.

Extractions

Having a tooth out is a form of oral surgery, and should be considered the same as having a minor operation. If a broken or decayed tooth cannot be repaired with a filling or other restorative treatment, it may have to be extracted. Tooth extraction involves removing the tooth from its socket in the bone. A surgical extraction is used for a tooth that has broken off at the gum line or has not yet emerged.

After extraction, you must look after the area to speed healing and to reduce the risk of infection. Here are some tips:

• For the first 24 hours, try to avoid eating hot food, don’t smoke, don’t drink any alcohol and try not to disturb any blood clot which might have formed.
• Don’t rinse your mouth for 24 hours after extraction. After that, rinse gently with warm salty water – half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of water is enough.
• Brush your teeth as normal to keep your mouth as clean as possible.
• You may feel some small pieces of bone work their way out of the socket – don’t worry, this is perfectly normal.
• There may be some swelling and a bit of discomfort in the first two to three days. If you need to, take some ordinary painkillers – aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol will be fine.
• If you feel pain a few days after the tooth has been removed, it might be where the blood clot has broken down leaving an empty hole in the gum. This is called a ‘dry socket’ and will need to be looked at by your dentist. Simply go back and the dentist will pack the wound to ease your discomfort.

Dental implants

At The Garden Dental & Implant Clinic, our skilled dentists are able to place comfortable, well-fitting and incredibly natural-looking dental implants to replace missing teeth and restore your confident smile. Dental implants are titanium screws that will replace the missing tooth’s root and will integrate with your jawbone to promote stability and healthy bone growth.