What is Oral Surgery?

Oral Surgery is a recognized international specialist training course in Dentistry.  In many areas of the world it is separate from Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, which is a unique specialty usually requiring both medical and dental qualifications.  Oral and Maxillofacial surgery is one of the 9 dental specialties recognized by the American Dental Association and requires at least 4-6 years of training.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is surgery to correct a wide spectrum of diseases, injuries and defects in the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region. Some Oral Surgical procedures include: Dentoalveolar surgery (surgery to remove impacted teeth, difficult tooth extractions, extractions on medically compromised patients, bone grafting or preprosthetic surgery to provide better anatomy for the placement of dentures or other dental prostheses) Diagnosis and treatment of benign pathology of the region (cysts, tumors etc.) Diagnosis and treatment (ablative and reconstructive surgery) of malignant pathology of the region (oral & head and neck cancer). Diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous malignancy (skin cancer surgery on the face, head, and neck to remove melanomas, basel cell carcinomas, etc.). Diagnosis and treatment of congenital craniofacial malformations such as cleft lip and palate and cranial vault malformations such as craniosynostosis, (craniofacial surgery). Diagnosis and treatment of chronic facial pain disorders. Diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. Diagnosis and treatment of dysgnathia (incorrect bite), and orthognathic (literally "straight bite") reconstructive surgery, orthognathic surgery, Maxillomandibular advancement. Diagnosis and treatment of soft and hard tissue trauma of the oral and maxillofacial region (jaw fractures, cheek bone fractures, nasal fractures, skull fractures and eye socket fractures.

This is only a small list to give you an example of the type of treatment that an Oral Surgeon can provide. Many more procedures are available.  Talk with your Dentist if you have any questions about Oral Surgery.

Our Monroeville, Mt. Pleasant, N. Huntingdon, Indiana, and Homer City locations offer specialty Oral Surgery services.  Please visit the location pages for more information on those offices.  If you already have a General Dentist in another office we will be happy to coordinate care with one of our Specialists.