Oral Surgery

About Extractions and Oral Surgery at Bridge Dental Surgeries, Marlow.

  • Routine extractions and some minor oral surgery is carried out by all of the dentists at the Practice.
  • The more complex oral surgery is usually carried out by Baha Bagdadi who visits the Practice on a weekly basis.

Complex oral surgery includes:

  • Removal of impacted wisdom teeth.
  • Difficult extraction cases.
  • Titanium Dental Implant Placement.
  • Apicectomies and retrograde root fillings.
  • Treatment of pathology of the jaw and mouth requiring surgical intervention.

 

Is it necessary to remove wisdom teeth?

Wisdom teeth are a valuable asset to the mouth when they are healthy and properly positioned. Often, however, problems develop that require their removal. When the jaw isn’t large enough to accommodate wisdom teeth, they can become impacted (unable to come in or misaligned) .Wisdom teeth may grow sideways, emerge only part way through the gum or remain trapped beneath the gum and bone.

Reasons for the removal of wisdom teeth:

  • The most common reason is recurrent infection of the gum overlying a tooth that is part way through the gum (pericoronitis.)
  • Decay (caries) in the wisdom tooth, which your dentist cannot restore.
  • When a cyst (fluid-filled sac) forms, destroying surrounding structures such as bone tooth roots.
  • Infection of the tooth (abscess ) due to advanced dental decay.
  • When the adjacent molar tooth is affected by gum (periodontal) disease or dental decay due to the impacted wisdom tooth.
  • As part of other surgical procedures affecting the jaw.

The removal of “Wisdom Teeth”

There is great variation in the difficulty of removing wisdom teeth.

The procedure can be carried out under local anaesthesia ( injection in the gum)  or under general anaesthetic.

Your surgeon will discuss with you which method is most appropriate, taking into account the degree of difficulty, any underlying medical conditions and other personal circumstances.

The procedure can involve a cut in the gum close to the tooth. Sometimes some jaw bone around the tooth is removed with a drill and also the procedure can be made easier by sectioning the tooth itself into smaller pieces.

What can be expected after the operation?

There is great variation in the pain and discomfort suffered by individuals and this also depends on how difficult the surgery was. The average recovery time is between 5-7 days.

Swelling is common and tends to be maximum on the 2nd and 3rd day post op, reducing over about a week. Mouth opening is likely to be restricted and a semi-solid diet will be required over the first few days.


Expect some pain from the operation site, which should be helped by painkillers and warm salt water mouth rinses. Bruising of the face and upper neck sometimes occurs.

Some possible complications.

Removal of wisdom teeth is a very safe and common operation but there is some risk associated with most procedures:

Most bleeding will have stopped within 1/2 hour. Blood stained saliva may be noticed for a day or two. More persistent bleeding may occur which should be dealt with by your dentist/ surgeon/hospital.

Sometimes antibiotics are prescribed after the operation. Even if they have been prescribed, infection of a tooth socket occasionally occurs.

It is possible that a crown or filling on an adjacent tooth may be dislodged during the procedure.

The nerves which give sensation to the lower lip and chin and to the tongue run very  close to the lower wisdom teeth and can be prone to bruising.If this happens numbness or a tingling   sensation in the lip, chin or tongue will be experienced.

In most cases this is temporary, but in a small number of cases recovery may not be complete. Very rarely continued pain may be felt from damaged nerves.

Please speak to your surgeon, Baha Bagdadi,  before your operation if you have concerns about these risks.  

If you have any concerns whatsoever or questions please contact us on 01628 474044. We are here to help you.