The Difference Between Dentists And Dental Surgeons

Dental surgeons are different from dentists. Although their disciplines do overlap, a surgeon has special training to do more extensive dental work for patients.

Ever wonder what makes a dental surgeon different from a regular dentist? Many dentists do some of the procedures that a dental surgeon may specialize in but not the full range of procedures that require special medical training. It is more often than not that a dental surgeon can do the full range of what dentists do rather than the other way around.

Oral surgeons perform common dental procedures such as dental implants and the like. Dental implants require a sort of installation procedure. When a person looses a tooth they also loose the root system of the tooth, which requires a dentist to replace it with an artificial one. Although some dentists handle this procedure, it’s common to be referred to a specialist.

Most of the time, patients will be referred to a dental surgeon when they need their wisdom teeth removed. This involves some sense of surgery because it’s more than pulling out a tooth. Removing wisdom teeth sometimes require a surgeon to remove teeth that haven’t come in yet. They have to cut into the gums to access the tooth in order to remove it. A regular dentist almost never performs such a complex procedure. Some dental surgeons even specialize in this kind of procedure alone.

Another specific kind of oral surgeon is a maxillofacial surgeon. This kind of dentist can do extractions like wisdom teeth and perform implant surgery but they also handle facial surgery. Their education includes learning about a wide range of diseases, genetic defects, and traumatic injuries to the face, neck, and jaws. This includes advanced knowledge of the bone structure and the hard and soft tissues of those areas. They can perform any number of procedures, like bone grafting, to correct more difficult problems a patient may have to correct.

Dentists rarely uses anesthesia during a procedure. Most oral surgeons can give this option to their patients but it’s not always necessary. For most simple and common procedures, a patient needs to be able to breath. If anesthesia is used, a surgeon will have to monitor your breath. Sometimes a patient is put under deep sedation, which actually allows them to breath on their own during surgery. A surgeon can be trained in general anesthesia or employ an anesthesiologists specifically when people request “going under” for a particular procedure. For complex surgeries, anesthesia is necessary. Again, either the surgeon or a specialist will administer the proper drugs.

Now that you know a little bit about the range of what a dental surgeon does, why is it important? Your dentist may refer you to a specialist, but why can’t he perform the surgery? Even though dentists are already considered doctors who specialize in dentate medicine, they are usually for regular checkups just like your internal medicine doctor. When you have a problem specific to something and need surgery, you wouldn’t want your doctor, who although is knowledgeable of your ailment, is not properly trained to perform surgery. Just as there are specialists in the field of medicine as well as general practitioners, so is the same for the field of dentistry.

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