When do People Need to Undergo Dentoalveolar Surgery?

Dentoalveolar surgery involves the treating of diseases of teeth, soft tissue, and the jawbone. The most common dentoalveolar surgery is the extraction of decaying teeth. But apart from extraction, other procedures under this definition include biopsy and lesion removal, treatment of infections in the mouth, and the addition, removal, or reshaping of hard and soft tissue on the jawbone.


So is dentoalveolar surgery necessary?


When teeth are decaying and cannot be saved, extraction is needed. However, there are times when a simple extraction may not be enough. When teeth in the immediate area of the target tooth have crowns or large fillings, or when there is a dentoalveolar nerve near the tooth, a more complex surgical procedure is needed. Sometimes people have roots that go deep into the jaw, or they have unerupted or impacted teeth or even teeth that are fused to the jaw. These instances also require more complex surgery.

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Dentists also perform dentoalveolar surgery when they find benign cysts or growths on the jaw that they need to remove. They also perform the procedure when they discover supernumerary or extra teeth and malformation. Any additional bone growth requires dentoalveolar surgery.


There are also some cases when a tooth is knocked out that dentoalveolar surgery is performed on impacted teeth to replace the tooth that was knocked out.

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Domenick Coletti, DDS specializes in several dental surgery procedures, including dentoalveolar surgery. To know more about Dr. Coletti, visit this Facebook page.

Goodbye, Tiny Black Holes: Promoting Good Dental Hygiene in Young Children

A lot of parents find it hard to gauge when dental care is needed for their children. They are aware that cavities must be prevented, but they do not know the best way to avoid them

Oral hygiene must start before a child gets their first set of teeth. Here are some ways parents can promote healthy dental habits in young children.

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• Even before the child’s teeth appear, run a clean, damp cloth over the gums to cleanse the mouth of bacteria.
• When the child has two teeth that touch, parents can begin flossing them.
• Avoid the “baby bottle decay.” Do not train the child to fall asleep with a bottle of milk or juice stuck in their mouth. As much as possible, parents should not let their children become “suck dependent,” unless it is for water or breast milk.
• Have the child drink a glass of water after consuming sweets.
• Patiently train the child to brush, floss, and rinse their teeth and mouth. 
• Let the child grow up without fear of the dentist by starting visits early.

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Say goodbye to tooth decay with a beaming smile. Domenick Coletti, DDS, M.D., is an accomplished oral and maxillofacial surgeon based in Maryland. Visit this website to know more about his practice.

Conditions and Diseases that may Require Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

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An internationally recognized surgical specialty, oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) includes the diagnosis, surgical and related treatments of many diseases, injuries, defects, and aesthetic problems involving the head, neck, mouth, face, teeth, and jaws. Specialists in this field provide care options to patients experiencing such conditions as impacted wisdom teeth, facial pain, and misaligned jaws. They also offer reconstructive and dental implants, treat accident victims suffering facial injuries, and perform specific procedures for patients with tumors, cysts, and developmental craniofacial abnormalities.

The scope of OMS is wide and extensive. Specifically, it covers the following diseases or injuries, among other conditions:

• Dental implant surgery and associated bone grafting
• Dentofacial deformities
• Bone augmentation
• Oral and dentoalveolar surgery (removal of impacted teeth, cysts, etc.)
• Congenital craniofacial deformities
• Facial plastic surgery (rhinoplasty, rhytidectomy, blepharoplasty, etc.)
• Snoring and sleep apnea correction surgery
• Tumor or cancer surgery
• Facial trauma surgery (facial bone fractures and related soft tissue injuries)
• Reconstructive surgery of the face
• Cleft lip and palate surgery
• Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJD)

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons do not work alone and often seek the advice, assistance, and even surgical support of other specialists such as dentists, orthodontists, pathologists, oncologists, prosthodontists, neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, radiologists, ENT surgeons, and other medical professionals.

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Domenick Coletti, DDS, M.D., is certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. His practice at Central Maryland Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, P.A. includes performing dental implants, removing impacted wisdom teeth, treating facial trauma, and administering corrective jaw surgery. For more articles on oral health, click here.

Oral Bacteria Linked to Esophageal Cancer

People who are infected with Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), a group of bacteria responsible for various gum diseases, are at higher risk for acquiring esophageal cancer. The esophagus is a muscular tube that connects the throat with the stomach.

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The correlation between P. gingivalis and esophageal cancer was made after a group of researchers from the University of Louisville (UofL) School of Dentistry found that 61 percent of patients with esophageal cancer were carriers of P. gingivalis.

"These findings provide the first direct evidence that P. gingivalis infection could be a novel risk factor for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and may also serve as a prognostic biomarker for this type of cancer," revealed Dr. Huizhi Wang, assistant professor of oral immunology and infectious diseases at the UofL School of Dentistry.

Dr. Wang stated that their data, if confirmed, shows that the “eradication of a common oral pathogen may contribute to a reduction in the significant number of people suffering with ESCC.”

Using tissue samples from 100 patients with ESCC and 30 normal controls, the researchers measured the presence of the oral bacteria in the esophageal tissues of their subjects. At the end of their study, they found that bacterial count of P. gingivalis is higher among ESCC patients. The presence of these bacteria, they hypothesized, “facilitates the development of esophageal cancer.”

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Domenick Coletti DDS specializes in full-scope oral surgery at Central Maryland Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery P.A. Follow this Twitter page for more news in oral health.