Oral Surgery – Alba Dental

Oral Surgery in London, ON

Surgical procedures to improve teeth, gum, and mouth health.

We understand that for some patients, merely thinking about oral surgery can be very intimidating. However, oral surgery is sometimes necessary in order to help restore your oral health. At Alba Dental Centre, Dr. Alsabbagh and Dr. Baalbaki provide comfortable and effective oral surgery options ranging from removing teeth to preserving bone and placing dental implants.

Our dental surgeons will do everything they can to ensure your experience is safe, relaxing, and pain-free. We pride ourselves in providing a wide range of oral surgery services to patients in London, ON as well as the surrounding areas. Explore our guide to learn more about the oral surgery services available at our practice.

What Is Oral Surgery?

Oral and maxillofacial surgery corrects a wide spectrum of diseases, injuries, and defects in the head, neck, face, and jaws. It can also correct issues with the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial regions. Oral surgery is a recognized international surgical specialty, and it’s also one of the specialties recognized by the Canadian Dental Association.

Our Oral Surgery Treatments

Corrective Jaw Surgery

Corrective jaw surgery, also known as orthognathic surgery, is performed on the upper jaw, lower jaw, and chin. This procedure corrects minor and major skeletal and dental irregularities including the misalignment of jaws and teeth, which can help improve chewing, speaking, and breathing. Signs and symptoms of skeletal and dental irregularities:

Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom teeth are the last set of teeth to develop. Sometimes they emerge from the gum line, and the jaw is large enough to allow room for them. But more often than not, they fail to emerge and become impacted due to a lack of room.

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. Additionally, these teeth can cause pain and misalignment in your other teeth. When a wisdom tooth is impacted, it may need to be removed to prevent or solve pain and other oral health issues.

Cleft Palate

Cleft lip and cleft palate result when all or some portions of the mouth and nasal cavity don’t grow together properly during fetal development. This leads to a gap in the lip or a split in the opening in the roof of the mouth. Until it’s treated with surgery, a cleft palate can cause problems with feeding, speech, and hearing. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons work as part of a team of healthcare specialists to correct these problems through a series of treatments and surgical procedures over many years.

Facial Trauma

Maxillofacial injuries or facial trauma encompass any injury to the mouth, face, and jaw. One of the most common types of serious injury to the face is broken or fractured bones. Fractures can involve the lower or upper jaw, palate, cheekbones, eye sockets, or a combination of these bones. These injuries can affect the ability to breathe, speak, and swallow.

Due to the high risk involved in maxillofacial injuries, the expertise of oral and maxillofacial surgeons is indispensable. Avoiding injury is always best, so it’s extremely important to use seat belts when driving, as well as protective mouth guards and appropriate masks and helmets for when participating in athletic pursuits at any level.

Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Surgery

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a small joint located in front of the ear where the skull and lower jaw meet, allowing the lower jaw to move and function. Problems with this joint are referred to as temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Common signs and symptoms of the temporomandibular disorder include:

TMJ treatment may range from conservative dental and medical care to complex surgery. If non-surgical treatment is unsuccessful or if there’s clear joint damage, surgery may be needed. Surgery to correct TMD usually involves either diagnosing and treating joint problems (arthroscopy) or surgical repair of damaged tissue.

Oral Cancer

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons recommend that everyone perform an oral cancer self-exam each month. Contact your oral and maxillofacial surgeon if you’ve noticed:

To help detect possibly cancerous and precancerous tissues, the oral surgeons at Alba Dental Centre will remove a small section of tissue and perform a biopsy so the problem can be accurately diagnosed.

Dental Implants

Dental implants are long-term replacements for missing teeth that your oral surgeon surgically places in the jawbone. Implants are composed of titanium metal that fuses with the jawbone through the osseointegration process. Due to the implant fusing with the jawbone, bone loss is generally not a problem. In fact, jaw bone matter can begin to regenerate after implant placement. Furthermore, implants never slip around or fall out and never decay.

Outpatient Anesthesia

At Alba Dental Centre, our oral surgeons have the ability to provide patients with safe, effective outpatient anesthesia including local anesthesia, nitrous oxide, and general anesthesia. Before your procedure, we’ll administer anesthesia to numb your mouth to ensure you don’t feel pain during the procedure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I visit an oral and maxillofacial surgeon?

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are the only recognized dental specialists who, after completing dental school, are surgically trained in an American Dental Association-accredited hospital-based residency program for a minimum of four years. They train alongside medical residents in specialties like:

Their training focuses almost exclusively on the hard and soft tissue of the face, mouth, and jaws. Their knowledge and surgical expertise uniquely qualify them to diagnose and treat the functional and esthetic conditions in this part of the body.

When should I have my wisdom teeth removed?

The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons strongly recommends that wisdom teeth be removed by the time the patient is a young adult, typically around the ages of 18 to 24. Extraction at this age is required in order to help prevent future problems and to ensure optimal healing.

If you believe you’re suffering from oral health issues due to wisdom teeth complications, call our London, ON office at (519) 777-2020 to schedule your appointment.

Are oral surgeons qualified to provide outpatient anesthesia?

At Alba Dental Centre, our oral surgeons are qualified to provide anesthesia due to their completion of surgical residency. During their surgical residency, residents must complete a rotation on the medical anesthesiology service where they become competent in:

Evaluating patients for anesthesia
Delivering the anesthetic
Monitoring post-anesthetic patients

Is oral surgery dangerous?

While oral surgery complications are rare, there are always some risks involved when a patient undergoes surgery. Any complications that may arise are oftentimes due to the patient’s general health status before surgery.

When you choose highly trusted and experienced dentists, such as Dr. Alsabbagh and Dr. Balbaaki at Alba Dental Centre, they’ll ensure that proper screening measures are taken before your procedure. This helps prevent any complications that may arise during the procedure and your healing period.

Visit Alba Dental Centre For Safe & Effective Oral Surgery

Whether you want to remove impacted teeth or replace missing teeth, the dental surgeons at Alba Dental Centre can provide you with the safe and effective care you need. Our dentists proudly offer their years of oral and maxillofacial surgery expertise to patients in London, ON as well as the surrounding areas including Strathroy, St. Thomas, and Ingersoll, ON.

Call our London, ON at (519) 777-2020 to schedule an appointment with one of our dentists. You can also request your appointment by clicking the button below. We’re ready and eager to see you and help you improve your oral health with our oral surgery options!

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Alba Dental Centre offers a complete range of dental care services. Try us out for yourself to see how we can help you feel more confident with your smile.