If you need oral surgery, you may wonder if it is a job for your dentist or a job for an oral surgeon. Here, we’ll answer the question: are dentists certified in oral surgery?
Are Dentists Certified in Oral Surgery?
An oral surgeon is a dental specialist who has been trained to perform surgical procedures on the teeth, mouth, jaws and face. This schooling occurs after a dentist has attended four years of dental school and then does an additional four to six years of oral surgical training. While many dentists can perform some minor oral surgery procedures, they are not necessarily oral surgeons. So while all oral surgeons are dentists, not all dentists are oral surgeons. At Columbus Center for Implants & Oral Surgery, we are fortunate to have two oral specialists who have been trained in the full spectrum of speciality oral and maxillofacial treatments.
Now that you know that dentists need to have additional training in order to be oral surgeons, let’s discuss some of the surgery treatments an oral surgeon performs.
Bone Grafts
Also called a jaw reconstruction, a bone graft is needed when a weakened bone in the jaw needs to be strengthened so that a dental implant can be placed, which is needed to replace a tooth. A weakened jawbone often occurs when you have been missing a tooth for a while or have had severe gum disease. Not only does the bone graft replace missing bone, but it also stimulates new growth in the jawbone.
Emergency Extractions
An extraction is when a tooth is removed from the mouth. This often happens when a tooth has been severely diseased or affected by trauma and cannot be saved. While the teeth that sit above the gumline can be removed by a simple extraction, you might need to undergo a surgical extraction if bone or tissue needs to be cut in order to remove the tooth. This is why wisdom teeth removal has to be done by an oral surgeon.
Dental Implants
We touched on this before, but a dental implant is used for replacing teeth. It is a small titanium post that needs to be surgically placed into the jaw so that it serves as a root for the missing tooth. When a dental implant is placed, the jaw will be drilled into so that the dental implant can be placed into the jaw and then the titanium implant will fuse with the jawbone. This creates a solid root for the replacement tooth to be connected to.
Need Oral Surgery? Contact Us
If you have any other questions about oral surgery or think that you are a candidate for an oral surgery procedure, please contact our office to set up an appointment. We look forward to hearing from you!