Whether you have impacted wisdom teeth, want to restore a missing tooth with a dental implant, or have experienced an injury, oral surgery can help you protect or improve your smile. Your El Paso, TX, dentist, Dr. Steve Yi, performs oral surgery and other dental procedures at El Paso Viva Dental.

Do I need oral surgery?

Oral surgery may be needed if:

• Your wisdom teeth are impacted. Impacted wisdom teeth are covered by bone and tissue and can't break through your gums, although they'll certainly try. Impacted wisdom teeth can be painful and may damage nearby teeth or nerves. Oral surgery from your El Paso dentist is used to remove both fully and partially impacted wisdom teeth.
• You injured your face or mouth: Oral surgery may be needed due to fractured bones, damaged nerves or salivary glands, or an injury that caused deep cuts to your face, mouth, or tongue.
• Your jaw is misaligned: Surgery may be the best option if you have a severe misalignment between your upper and lower jaw. Misalignments can cause multiple problems, including lacerations, gum disease, eroded enamel, cracked teeth, jaw stiffness, frequent headaches, and speech and chewing difficulties.
• You have a tumor or lesion: It can be a little scary to hear that you have a tumor or lesion, but your growth or lesion may very well be non-cancerous. After oral surgery to remove the tumor or lesion, a laboratory biopsy will determine if the cells contain cancer.
• You're getting a dental implant: Dental implants are small titanium posts that bond to your jawbone and serve as synthetic roots. During oral surgery, your El Paso dentist makes a small opening in your jawbone and places the implants inside. Once the implants bond to the bone, he'll attach crowns on top to fill the noticeable gaps in your smile.

Could oral surgery help your smile? Call your El Paso, TX, dentist, Dr. Steve Yi of El Paso Viva Dental, at (915) 751-1007 to schedule an appointment.