If you need a specialized dental procedure such as a root canal treatment or oral surgery in Gardena, California, you may be wondering who will perform these services. Is it a regular dentist, an orthodontist, or someone else?
You may have heard the terms “endodontist” and “oral surgeon.” In this blog post, we will explain the difference between an endodontist and an oral surgeon, and why you might need their services.
Oral surgery is a broad term referring to any type of surgical procedure involving the mouth and/or jaw. Oral surgeries can range from the more mundane, such as taking out wisdom teeth, to repairing broken jaws.
You may also see the term oral and maxillofacial surgery, which refers more specifically to reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery of the face and jaw. For example, oral maxillofacial surgery can be done to reconstruct a jaw after a serious accident.
Types of oral surgery include:
Different types of oral surgeries require different types of doctors with different training and education. For example, a periodontist has specialized training and experience in periodontal (gum) disease and would be the one performing the gum tissue graft to repair receding gums.
This brings us to the subject of this article, the difference between an endodontist and oral surgeon. In brief, while both oral surgeons and endodontists can perform operations on teeth, their roles are vastly different.
The endodontist is trained to handle smaller “microoperations” on the inside of the mouth. The oral surgeon is more like a hospital surgeon and treats more comprehensive issues with jaw structure and integrity and facial reconstruction.
In some dental cases, whether you will need to work with an endodontist or an oral surgeon will depend on how far along in your case you are. In other words, if you get treated earlier, you may need less extreme intervention and an endodontist will be your first line of defense.
A good example of this is if you have gingivitis. If not treated early by the dentist, your gingivitis may progress to periodontitis, a more serious form of gum disease. This will get treated by the periodontitis, but if it is not, then you might need a root canal. If you get the root canal early enough, the endodontist will perform it. But, if you want too long, the entire tooth may become infected down to the jaw, and you will need to see an oral surgeon.
Many procedures performed by oral surgeons require general anesthesia, while procedures performed by endodontists typically use local anesthetics.
Some people describe the difference as this: endodontists save teeth, oral surgeons remove teeth. However, this is an oversimplification.
So, let’s get into more specifics about the difference between an oral surgeon and an endodontist.
If you want your teeth preserved, you will want to see an endodontist because this is their specialty. They take care of diseased teeth, and if successful, they save these teeth so they don’t have to be extracted and replaced with a dental implant.
Endodontists need two to three years of additional training beyond dental school in an advanced endodontics training program.
One of the most common and well-known procedures performed by an endodontist is the root canal treatment. In this process, the endodontist carefully removes diseased tooth pulp from inside a tooth, so the tooth won’t have to be removed.
Endodontists perform other tooth-saving procedures using the latest, advanced technologies.
Endodontists can perform the following procedures (as well as others):
An oral surgeon is sometimes also called an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. These surgical specialists have an extra four to six years of training to become experts in surgery of the face and mouth. They have a wider scope of practice than an endodontist because of this additional training.
Oral surgeons do larger scale surgeries than endodontists. For example, they will remove wisdom teeth and other impacted teeth or molars. Oral surgeons also remove tumors. Cosmetic and functional cosmetic surgery such as cleft palate repair will also be performed by an oral surgeon. If someone gets into a car accident and their jaw gets broken, they will need an oral surgeon.
The following are some of the procedures performed by oral or maxillofacial surgeons:
When you come to the Dentist of Gardena, we will perform a comprehensive oral exam to determine what is going on with your mouth and teeth. Depending on what we find, we will offer a variety of recommendations for your treatment. In many cases, the oral surgery interventions can be completed at our offices just like any regular dental procedure. What type of procedure you need will determine whether you need an oral surgeon or an endodontist.
The preparation for oral surgery depends on which procedure you are receiving. If it is a common dental procedure such as root canal therapy, the preparation may not be that much more different from preparing for a regular dental checkup and cleaning.
If you have certain conditions or risks, such as a heart condition, you may need to take antibiotics to make sure bacteria from your teeth and gums don’t infect other areas of your body, especially the heart.
For more complex oral surgeries, such as those that may require working on the jaw and bone, more in-depth preparations may be necessary, similar to any surgery at a hospital. If you need certain types of anesthesia, you will need transportation back home as you will not be able to drive yourself.
Additionally, you may need to avoid eating anything for a certain number of hours prior to the surgery, as well as afterwards.
We will of course explain all of these preparations in detail to make sure you get the best oral surgery treatment!
At Dentist of Gardena, we offer a full suite of dental and orthodontic services to our clients in Southern California. If you need oral surgery, our skilled dental staff can help. We are a Medi-Cal dentist offering affordable dental services for residents and families in the Gardena area. Contact us today for a consultation.