We love our patients. Every one of them is unique, every one of them courageous, and every one of them deserves our gratitude for choosing us as their Gilbert oral surgeon. Recently we had the opportunity to meet a young lady with a huge heart.

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Removing wisdom teeth is an art form executed precisely by maxillofacial surgeons every day. It’s the most common reason for visiting an oral surgeon, and the most common reason to have any teeth removed. Wisdom teeth can cause pain, move other teeth around in the mouth, create a misalignment of the jaw, and can basically wreak havoc on your oral health, which is why many adults chose to have them completely removed.

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Wisdom teeth can do more then just push against your teeth causing misalignment; they can also cause a great deal of pain. Through the process of wisdom teeth ‘coming in,’ impaction can occur, which can lead to pinched nerves or even infection.

This impaction of the wisdom teeth causes a great deal of pain, and while removal of those teeth is the best option, sometimes financial issues or just plain bad timing can delay the surgery.

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An amazing 35% of the population of the world will have their wisdom teeth removed between the ages of 17 and 25. Most people think that is all an Arizona maxillofacial surgeon does; wisdom teeth extractions. In reality, they do far more than anyone ever thinks about, but wisdom teeth extractions is the most common procedure for them to perform, strictly because so many individuals end up with impacted wisdom teeth.

So, let’s break this down and talk about those teeth that can cause headaches, jaw soreness, and push all the other teeth in your entire mouth out of whack. A wisdom tooth is a molar located in the back of your mouth, including the mandibular third molar and maxillary third molar. Most adults have four wisdom teeth, two on the bottom and two on the top, but it is incredibly common for individuals to have more, in which case they’re called supernumerary teeth. Some adults, however, never get wisdom teeth.

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An Arizona maxillofacial surgeon is an expert in the field of facial surgeries. They are not only highly skilled with procedures such as wisdom teeth removal, they can also recite the structure of facial tissue, bones and nerves in their sleep. And while you may need a maxillofacial surgeon for things as traumatic as facial injuries due to car accidents, you might also need one for natural deformities of the teeth or jaw.

Jaw surgery is probably more common than most people realize. Improper jaw positioning can be a large factor in overbites, underbites, and misaligned teeth, which can ultimately lead to cracking of the teeth or a chipped tooth. In the most extreme cases, maxillofacial surgery can help to fix breathing problems caused by the jaw.

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Facial trauma, also known as maxillofacial trauma, can be incredibly difficult to overcome, especially in our society, It takes a skilled hand and usually numerous surgeries to repair maxillofacial trauma, and in many cases a complete and full recovery is hard to come by. Maxillofacial surgeons are highly trained to recognize and operate on facial trauma.

Things like burns to the face, fractured bones, lacerations or bruises can sometimes need maxillofacial surgery to correct. In other cases, these conditions need reconstructive surgery as well as plastic surgery to regain all original function. Trauma to the face can affect everything from breathing, eating, talking, vision, and even the nerves that extend to the brain. In the most severe cases, head trauma can lead to bleeding in the brain and can ultimately be deadly.

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Maxillofacial surgery is a term not often used anymore in Arizona dentist or oral surgeon offices. Technically speaking, maxillofacial surgery is a specialization of dentistry that focuses on the mouth, jaw and neck. It’s a highly specialized field, and the relationship between your Arizona dentist and your Arizona maxillofacial surgeon can be similar to that of your family physician and your radiologist or cardiologist. Maxillofacial surgeons are trained in many techniques, but all involve a very particular part of your body.

Most Arizona oral surgeons attend dental school as any other dentist would, and then attend an additional residency for surgery purposes and hands-on practice, much like a cardiologist would begin their career with a semester of residency in an emergency hospital. And, like a cardiologist or radiologist, a maxillofacial surgeon must learn the exact techniques of many complex and intricate surgeries that involve important nerves which run through the face. Training can take many years before an oral surgeon is able to become board certified.

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