______________________________________________________

 

Phone: 440-235-3060 Fax: 440-235-2382

Dental implants: Edentulism, or tooth loss, can cause problems with chewing, jawbone shrinkage (resorption), and overall tooth weakening as remaining teeth struggle to do the work of the missing ones. Oral surgeons can implant natural-looking, natural-feeling titanium teeth to replace missing natural teeth.

Facial pain: Malfunction of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the joint that allows jaw movement, is a common source of facial pain. In extreme cases, facial surgery may be necessary to alleviate the pain.

Oral cancer: Oral surgeons can also detect, diagnose and treat suspicious lumps or lesions in the mouth that may lead to cancer.

Facial fractures: If injury leads to broken facial bones, oral surgeons can offer patients a variety of options to return his or her appearance to normal.

An oral or maxillofacial surgeon must complete from four to seven years of surgical and medical training in addition to the four years of dental school. He or she can perform a variety of surgeries in either an office or a hospital setting, depending on the type of surgery.

 

7172 Columbia Road Olmsted Falls, Ohio 44138

Oral and maxillofacial surgery is any surgery involving the bones and soft tissues of the face, mouth and neck. Oral surgeons perform a wide range of operations including extraction of wisdom teeth, facial reconstruction, surgical correction of misaligned jaws, and surgery to remove cancer.

Wisdom teeth removal: Wisdom teeth that fail to emerge can damage the surrounding teeth, gums or bones, or cause cysts or tumors in the jaw. If x-rays reveal problematic wisdom teeth, an oral surgeon will extract the teeth.

Jaw growth: A jaw that fails to develop properly—for example, when the top jaw has grown larger than the bottom, or vice versa—can lead to speech or breathing problems, chewing and swallowing difficulties, jaw pain and, because of these problems, unhappiness. Sometimes, the irregularity can be corrected by an orthodontist; in more severe cases, an oral surgeon will perform orthognathic surgery, or corrective jaw surgery.

Cosmetic facial surgery: Birth defects, trauma, accidents and aging can lead to facial disfiguration. Maxillofacial surgery can help affected individuals achieve a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.

Denture fitting: Sometimes, in order for dentures to fit properly, jaw and soft tissue irregularities must be corrected with oral surgery. For example, the oral surgeon may correct jaw shrinkage with a bone graft.