Oral Surgery
Oral Surgery in Bellevue, WA
Affordable Oral Surgery for Patients in Bellevue, WA
Lifetime Smiles specializes in helping our Bellevue, WA patients achieve and maintain optimal oral health and a beautiful smile. While our dental care specialists take care of teeth and gums using non-surgical methods, sometimes disease or condition requires oral surgery. Getting affordable oral surgery can be an excellent solution to issues like tooth loss, wisdom teeth, and gum disease. We address conditions affecting the teeth, bone, and gum tissue, and we utilize the latest dental techniques and technologies to ensure efficient procedures with the least complications and easier recovery time. Our dental team puts your comfort and oral health is our top concerns when we advise you on the procedures you need. We apply years of training and expertise to each step of your treatment, from biopsies to determine underlying causes of your symptoms to educating on treating your mouth and what food to eat after oral surgery.
Examples of Common Oral Surgery Procedures
Dr. Michael Beke can repair and resolve various dental issues using specialized procedures for your teeth, gums, and even bone. We’ve outlined several examples of common surgical procedures available to dental patients:
- Wisdom Teeth Removal – Wisdom teeth are a natural part of late adolescents’ and young adults’ oral health. Still, they tend to cause problems as they grow in, including pushing sideways or not fully erupting from the gums. Impacted wisdom teeth can be seriously painful and cause damage to the surrounding teeth and tissue. We skillfully remove the wisdom teeth to relieve the discomfort and preserve optimal oral health.
- Dental Implant Surgery – Dental implants are an outstanding permanent solution to tooth loss. If you have sufficient jawbone and gum tissue, as you maintain good oral health, you are likely a candidate for implants. We perform this procedure by inserting a titanium post through the gums and into the jawbone. Once the post has fused with the bone and the site has healed, we work with our dental lab to create a customized crown to fit your implant to restore your smile’s appearance and function.
- Tooth Extractions – Despite good oral hygiene and regular dental visits, we sometimes need to remove teeth to protect a patient’s oral health. Issues like crowding, decay, and other forms of tooth damage may warrant an extraction. We consider your short-term and long-term concerns when extracting a tooth.
- Bone Grafting – The bone that surrounds your teeth is highly specialized. After you lose it, the tissue doesn’t regenerate like other bone tissue might in other locations. This bone acts as a foundation to keep your teeth stable and allow them to function. Oral surgery can sometimes implement bone grafting to repair big and small defects.
- Periodontal (Gum) Surgery – Certain gum diseases and conditions, such as periodontitis and gingivitis, may require gum surgery. During this procedure, we treat gum disease and repair any damage caused by the condition, including re-growing damaged tissues and bones.
Recovery Tips Following Oral Surgery
After oral surgery, it’s important to care for your mouth properly, which may involve actions to reduce swelling and changes to your normal lifestyle. Lifetime Smiles wants to help you stay comfortable and heal quickly, so we recommend the following tips to aid in your recovery:
- Rest at home and avoid any physical activities. You can prop your head up with pillows to help reduce swelling or bleeding and use ice packs on your face for 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off.
- For the first few days after surgery, stick to soft food or liquid diet, including yogurts, soups, mashed potatoes, and smoothies. Afterward, eat a lot of foods rich in Vitamins A and C, such as sweet potatoes, stewed carrots, eggs, and fish, to support the healing process.
- If you were prescribed antibiotics by your oral surgeon or dentist, be sure to finish the course as you’ve been directed.
- Gently rinse your mouth with warm saltwater 24 hours after your oral surgery and repeat four times a day. You should also rinse out your mouth after eating meals or snacks to remove food from around the surgical area. Avoid brushing or flossing your teeth in the surgical area until it’s fully healed, but you should still brush and floss the rest of your mouth.
- Don’t drink alcohol or smoke, as both can affect the healing process. Also, avoid eating hard or crunchy foods following surgery for six to eight weeks.
Call Lifetime Smiles for Professional Dental Care
Your oral health and appearance can stay at their best when you keep on top of at-home care and regular visits to Lifetime Smiles. However, when a serious issue with your jaw, teeth, or gums requires a more extensive procedure, you can count on our oral surgery specialists. We’re available to resolve a variety of issues, including wisdom teeth removal, dental implants, and bone grafting. If you’re experiencing signs or symptoms like pain or swelling in your mouth, contact us immediately so that we can bring you into our office as soon as possible to assess your condition.