What is Dental Reconstructive Surgery?
Sometimes a traumatic facial injury occurs, and a patient will require dental reconstructive surgery to correct damage due to falls, work injuries, sports injuries, interpersonal violence, motor vehicle accidents or many other unfortunate circumstances. These types of facial trauma injuries are some of the scariest and most stressful problems that our dentists see.
Injuries that are commonly treated using reconstructive oral surgery are defined by three categories; soft tissue trauma, which encompasses the skin or gums, bone injuries, like fractures or bone breaks of the jaw area, and other injuries to specific maxillofacial region including the eyes, nose and cheeks.
Our dental reconstructive surgery in Burlington covers everything from traumatic facial injuries requiring oral reconstruction, to cosmetic smile makeovers that will enhance the aesthetics and the natural function of your mouth.
Common dental reconstructive surgery treatments include:
- • Facial lacerations (cuts)
- • Intraoral lacerations (cuts that have occurred inside the mouth)
- • Dislodged (knocked out) teeth
- • Fractures or breaks of the teeth, jaw and facial bones
- • Restoring chipped, broken or decayed teeth
- • Restoring normally eating and speaking
- • Enhancing the look of your smile (closing gaps in teeth, fixing an uneven bite)
These types of injuries can often be severe and can be very traumatic for patients, because after all, when our face is affected it is very worrying and stressful. That’s why we are dedicated to restoring not only proper oral function but also the facial appearance of our patients who have suffered a serious accident. Along with our expert treatment and care, our office offers multiple anaesthesia options to ensure our patients are comfortable throughout every step of their treatment.
Reasons for Maxillofacial Surgery in Burlington
Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue injuries typically mean lacerations to the facial area, either on the outside or the inside of a patient’s mouth. These types of injuries are usually repaired by suturing the wound (stitches) and a full recovery is normally expected. However, special care must be taken to not only minimize scarring, but also to ensure facial structures such as nerves, salivary ducts and salivary glands are not damaged or properly repaired.
Bone Injuries
These types of injuries to the facial region are often treated in a similar way to how fractures or breaks in other parts of the body are treated – with immobilization. However, unlike with a broken arm, a patient’s jaw bone cannot be put into a cast, meaning other methods of immobilization must be used to stabilize the break of fracture. One of the most common treatments if to wire the jaw together in order to immobilize the affected area so it can heal correctly. This technique is often referred to as “rigid fixation” and can help to treat many types of injuries to the facial bone structure.
Teeth & Surrounding Dental Structure Injuries
Knocked-out, broken or fractured teeth are a very common dental injury and can be easily treated by re-inserting the tooth if possible or by installing an artificial replacement (denture, bridge or artificial tooth). If an accident has occurred, the knocked-out tooth should be placed immediately in milk or salt water and your dentist should be visited asap to allow the best chance for a successful re-insertion. Remember not to wipe the knocked out tooth off as this can damage the vital ligaments that may still be attached. If a tooth is unable to be re-inserted, then some form of dental implant is recommended to replace the missing tooth and restore proper oral function.
It is important to visit your dentist as soon as possible after an accident so that the correct treatment options and path can be determined. Our clinic offers dental reconstructive surgery in Burlington and our team are experienced in both fixing the problems and taking care of our patient’s well-being throughout the process.
Conveniently Located In Burlington
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