Oral Surgery & Oral Medicine

Oral surgery and Oral Medicine deal with conditions affecting the mouth and related structures, for example, salivary glands.

This includes both soft tissue conditions affecting the oral mucosa, or lining of the mouth, and conditions of the teeth and jaws. Soft tissue lesions may be removed for microscopic examination. Oral ulcers may need to be examined to exclude pre-malignancy or malignant conditions of the mouth.

The most commonly dealt with dental problems from the surgical prospective are impacted wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth commonly cause problems, typically in young adults, but also in older patients. Removal may be complicated and can be carried out under local or general anaesthesia. Typically patients are admitted for a general anaesthesia on the day of surgery. Removal takes approximately 30 minutes and patients are discharged home later the same day. Dissolving stitches are often in place, which take about ten days to dissolve and patients can expect to be swollen and even bruised for approximately five days.