The Basics of Oral Surgery

Whether you are having a temporary implant placed or you’re having a tooth pulled, if you just found out that you have to have oral surgery done you may be a little bit nervous. One of our jobs here at our office is to ensure that all of our patients feel as calm and comfortable about all procedures— including oral surgery— before they walk in through our doors. To help you feel a little bit more relaxed and informed, Dr. Dean Glaser has created a list of three basics of oral surgery.

Anesthesia

When it comes to pain during surgery, it’s the last thing that we want you to feel. Depending on the type of surgery that you are having, we may use one form of anesthesia over another. Typical forms of anesthesia include:

• Local anesthetic is injected into the mouth to numb the area to be treated and block the nerves that transmit pain. It is commonly used during fillings, treating gum disease or preparing teeth for crowns.
• Sedation is usually administered by inhaling nitrous oxide, or laughing gas. This form of anesthesia is commonly combined with local anesthetic to help relieve anxieties.
• General anesthesia is the strongest form of anesthesia available for dental procedures, and involves intravenous drugs to produce a temporary loss of consciousness.

Recovery

We typically encourage all of our patients to at least take a day off work on average to help heal after oral surgery. If you are undergoing a larger oral surgery like having your wisdom teeth removed, then you may want to take even more time off of work. While you're recovering, try taking some over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen to help ease any pain, discomfort, or welling. Additionally, we encourage some of our surgical patients to eat a diet of soft foods for the first few days so that they don’t exacerbate the incision site.

Before you come into our office and have any sort of oral surgery or procedure, we will make sure that you know the ins and outs of what you can expect before, during, and after. To learn more, contact our Melville office today and call us at (631) 423-6767