At Stephens & Gatewood Dentistry, we are dedicated to providing individualized treatment and compassionate care to our patients. This extends to oral surgery procedures such as tooth extraction, dental implant placement, and more. When you are considering oral surgery at our office, you can count on us to be considerate of you in several ways.

We’ll consider your needs and never recommend a procedure that won’t help you achieve your cosmetic, health, and functional goals. We’ll also be considerate of your comfort. We will offer anesthesia adequate to control discomfort during your procedure. In addition, we offer sedation dentistry to help you feel calm and relaxed during the procedure. If you want to learn more about the benefits of oral surgery at Spring, TX, please contact us today.

When a Tooth Can’t Be Restored

We try as hard as we can to save your teeth. However, a tooth might be too damaged to be saved. At this point, removing the damaged tooth is best to prevent tooth infection and/or gum disease. This can lead to a loss of more teeth as well as increase your risk of severe complications, including heart disease, stroke, and even a deadly blood or brain infection.

Oral Surgery Procedures We Offer

Our well-trained and experienced dentists can perform a wide range of oral surgery procedures, including:

  • Extractions
  • Wisdom tooth extractions
  • Bone grafts
  • Sinus lift
  • Dental implant placement
  • All-on-4 implant placement

We’ll evaluate your needs and may recommend more than one oral surgery procedure in your case. The timing of the oral surgeries can vary. In some cases, we might be able to perform extractions, bone grafts, and implant placement all on the same day. Other times, we might recommend waiting weeks or months between procedures. This depends on your health and your goals.

Tooth Extraction

The procedure of extracting or “pulling” teeth is classified as the simplest form of oral surgery. We’ll carefully help you identify the circumstances in which oral surgery is the best treatment plan. These include:

  • Baby teeth that are “stuck” or preventing permanent teeth from erupting
  • Impacted or partially erupted wisdom teeth
  • Teeth that have been severely damaged and cannot be restored
  • Loose teeth that require extraction to prepare for dentures or implants

We know that no one looks forward to having teeth extracted, but if you need teeth removed, our Stephens & Gatewood Dentistry team is one of the most skilled and compassionate in the area.

Wisdom Tooth Extraction

Wisdom tooth extraction is one of the most common oral surgery procedures. People often don’t have enough room in their jaw to allow wisdom teeth to emerge healthily. Left untreated, wisdom teeth can become impacted.

Impacted wisdom teeth can cause several health problems, including:

  • Damage to neighboring teeth
  • Gum disease
  • Infected teeth
  • Uncomfortable and painful bite
  • Trapped food
  • Cysts and noncancerous tumors
  • Bad breath

If your wisdom teeth don’t have room to emerge fully, we may recommend extraction. It’s often best to act sooner to avoid these potential dangers.

Preparing for Dentures or Implants

If you are facing the loss of one or more teeth, you should look at replacement options. Sometimes, when we’re designing your denture or dental implant solution, it might make sense to extract one or more teeth that might otherwise be salvageable to make your implants more attractive, functional, or long-lasting.

Bone Grafts

If you are considering dental implants, you must have enough bone to support those implants. So what do you do if you don’t have enough bone? A bone graft can restore bone to your jaw to help support dental implants.

Why do people not have enough bone? There are several common causes of bone loss in the jaw, including:

  • Injury
  • Gum disease
  • Infected teeth
  • Age
  • Atrophy

If you had to have teeth extracted because of gum disease or the teeth were infected, you may have lost bone volume. Our bones also shrink naturally with age. In addition, you might have lost bone after having teeth extracted. Jawbone and teeth support and stimulate each other. After tooth extraction, your body may harvest minerals from what seems to be unnecessary bone. Over time, this can leave you with places in your jaw that don’t have enough bone to support dental implants.

No matter the cause, if you don’t have enough bone to support your dental implants, our Spring, TX dentists can replace it using bone graft procedures.

Sinus Lift Bone Grafts

When you lose bone from your upper jaw (maxilla), you may be at risk of having a dental implant puncture your sinuses. This can lead to infections as well as implant failure. To prevent this, we will perform a sinus lift bone graft. This augments the bone in the maxilla, so dental implants have enough space and won’t intrude on the sinuses.

This type of bone graft is more complicated, and few practices offer it in Spring, TX.

Dental Implant Placement

Dental implants are the best tooth replacement available for most people. A dental implant is a small screw, usually made of titanium, that we place in your jaw. This can often be a simple procedure, taking under an hour for each dental implant.

If you lost bone in your jaw and need bone grafting before getting implants, we may need to perform the bone graft procedure and wait several months before your bone is ready to support an implant. However, sometimes, we can place dental implants and perform bone grafts using the same procedure.

All-on-4 Dental Implants

The All-on-4 dental implant system is a remarkable way to get a full set of replacement teeth that is attractive, secure, functional, and comfortable using just four dental implants. With All-on-4, you usually don’t need a bone graft. All-on-4 also has the benefit that many people can receive their replacement teeth on the same day.

Looking for Oral Surgery in Spring, TX?

If you are looking for a great dental practice to perform these or any other oral surgery procedures in Spring, TX, contact our experienced dentists.

Please call (281) 320-2000 to request an appointment at our Cypresswood or Auburn Lakes location.