What is reconstructive oral surgery, and how can this procedure help you? Our Thornhill dentists offer some facts and insight into when patients may need it.
What is reconstructive oral surgery?
Accidents can happen any day, at any time. They happen in the form of sports injuries, motor vehicle accidents, facial trauma, falls, incidents at work, and more. An injury to your mouth and teeth can be stressful and scary. This type of injury can also impact your oral health long-term.
This dental surgery may be recommended so the appearance and function of your smile can be restored. There are two categories of facial reconstruction surgery: soft tissue injuries and fractures.
Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue injuries often result in dental emergencies and cover trauma to the gums or skin, such as cuts on the tongue, lips or inside of your cheek. These may also include lacerations to the hard or soft palate.
Fractures
If the tiny bone tissue in your mouth is injured - including the teeth, upper or lower jaw or facial bones - they could need reconstruction.
If you’ve suffered severe facial injuries to the forehead or nasal cavities you might require a larger reconstructive surgery.
As you might imagine, acquiring a jaw defect as a result of trauma or earlier surgery (e.g. ablative tumour surgery) can drastically impact your quality of life in terms of appearance and function – everything from swallowing and eating to speaking, appearance and self-confidence are affected.
You might require facial reconstructive surgery if you receive any of these dental services:
- Wisdom tooth removal
- Dental implants
- Jaw surgery
- Bone grafting
What does reconstructive surgery involve?
Facial injuries, knocked out teeth and other traumatic injuries to the face and neck can leave patients struggling to eat, speak, chew and live a good quality of life. We use reconstructive surgery procedures to replace damaged or missing teeth, correct issues with the jaw joint and treat gum and jawbone damage. Depending on your injury or circumstance, dental implants or other treatment options may be used to repair bone structure and jaw alignment.
Maxillofacial Reconstruction
Maxillofacial reconstruction can entail a range of procedures, from bone grafting to bone transplants with blood vessels for larger, more complex defects. This dental surgery can correct a wide range of defects, diseases and injuries in the face, neck, head and jaws, as well as the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial area.
Rehabilitation
After an oral and maxillofacial surgeon has completed the reconstructive oral surgery, the oral cavity (teeth and gums) must be rehabilitated and lost teeth and gums will be replaced so you can speak, eat and swallow normally again.
Though reconstructive oral surgery can sound intimidating, our dental team at Dentistry on Green Lane is here to answer any questions you may have and address concerns throughout treatment.
