Oral Surgery

With extensive training in oral surgery, Dr. Kristoff prides himself in performing gentle surgical procedures, skillfully, comfortably and with a minimum of post-operative swelling or discomfort. This skill is further enhanced by our in-house Low Emission 3D Imaging that aids in diagnosis of disease, pre-surgical planning, and improves the safety margin of procedures.

For an immediate denture, full mouth extractions are typically required and can be done all in the same day. We recommend IV Conscious Sedation for those who are good sedation candidates. Nitrous oxide and oral sedation are also available if needed due to the patient’s health.

Extractions

When a tooth has no functional use, is a source of disease, or simply requires too much work to save it, then extracting/removing it is the right decision. Minor tooth extractions can usually be performed with local anesthesia and/or nitrous oxide. For larger cases we recommend IV Conscious Sedation when the patient is a good sedation candidate.

Wisdom Teeth

Most people benefit from having their wisdom teeth removed simply because there is no room for them in their mouth. Wisdom teeth may crowd the existing teeth, cause pain, or cause other disease processes. Wisdom tooth removal can be done in office under IV Conscious Sedation for most patients. Wisdom teeth are considered “impacted” or unable to erupt when they become trapped at an odd angle by the roots of neighboring teeth.

Some complications that can arise with wisdom teeth are:

• They may grow in sideways (damaging your second molar).
• Get stuck after partially coming through the gums, causing a bacteria trap resulting in infections and decay.
• Remain trapped beneath the gums, and form a fluid filled sac (cyst) or tumors that destroy the jaw or teeth.

Wisdom teeth should be removed if they are:

• Badly decayed
• Have gum disease
• Cause pain
• Move other teeth out of alignment
• Interfere with your biting
• Cause damage to the inside of your cheeks

Removing wisdom teeth at an early age (16-17 years) can provide these benefits:

• There is less chance of damaging nerves
• There is less surgical risk
• Healing is generally faster