Have you ever wondered why dental surgery is a totally separate arm of medical science? In fact, if not measured in size, your oral health is as important as your overall health! Oral health complications can add up to make a long list and therefore, the types of surgical interventions related to them are many in number too. In this article we would take a glance of the different kinds of dental surgeries, their needs and purposes.
Being a vast field in itself, dental surgeries are better segregated by classifying them under two broad categories: Endodontic and Prosthodontic. The former concerns the inner part of the tooth whereas the latter, concerns the overall tooth itself. The nature and scope of the different types of surgeries will let you have an idea of two broad categories.
1. Endodontic Surgery :
Root Canal Treatment : The most common endodontic surgery is that of a root canal. It is done especially when you have a rotten tooth with infected pulp and root inside it. The procedure basically involves accessing the infected pulp in order to pull it out and replacing the empty space with a filling material. Root canal treatment is mainly of three types:
- Pulpotomy: This is a preliminary stage of the root canal treatment. The dentist works on the tooth, primarily the pulp chamber and drains all the infection out of the tooth.
- Pulpectomy: This involves removal of the entire pulp in the tooth. This also aids in suppressing the temporary pain.
- Apicoectomy: The root of the tooth is known as Apex. Thus Apicoectomy is a root-end resection wherein the dentist removes the root of the tooth. In the process the infection is also drained off.
2. Prosthodontics Surgery :
Prosthodontics today, quite popularly include a range of treatments that work to better the visual appearances of your teeth. The various procedures include:
- Crowns: These are also known as caps. They are artificial teeth that functions as covers for a decaying or damaged tooth. Caps or artificial crowns that are available in the market are made of different material including CMC/PMC (ceramic/porcelain metal composite), gold or a tin or aluminum mixture and even more.
- Veneers: Veneers are meant for the front portion of your teeth. They are artificial covers for your decaying and damaged teeth too (like crowns). The only difference is that a slight portion of your enamel (and not the tooth itself) needs to be scrapped in order to apply veneers.
- Implant: Dental implants are one the latest effective and popular techniques of lost teeth restoration. They are basically posts made of titanium that are embedded into the jawbone over which artificial tooth crowns are placed.
- Dentures: Dentures are essentially a set of artificial teeth that are attached to your palatal surface. So if you lost more than one tooth, dentures are your right choice.
A knowledge of the different variants of oral surgeries would indeed help you during your decision making phase, while you are in need of any such treatments. However, this post has specifically dental with dental surgeries, which only constitute a major part of your oral health. A set of healthy and beautiful teeth in fact, speaks volumes about a good oral health.