Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

oral maxillofacial surgeon

a dentist who has completed additional oral surgical and anesthesia studies of two to three years, as well as hospital internship and residency program

exodontia

extraction of a tooth

forceps

pincers for seizing, holding, or extracting

scalpel

a small surgical knife used to cut open or excise tissue from a surgical area

bone file

heavier and thicker than the file used on tooth and restoration surfaces

elevators

device used to raise the tooth; three types are periosteal, exolever, and apical

periosteal

concerning the periosteum; used to loosen the periosteum tissue from the bone, or detach the tissue around the cervix of a tooth

exolever

device to raise or elevate; used to elevate or luxate a tooth from its natural socket

apical

pertaining to the apex or tip; used to elevate or pick out remains of a fractured root tip

hemostat

device or drug used to arrest blood flow; scissor-style device with a locking joint and serrated beaks; used to clamp off or hold onto and transfer

needle holder

similar to a hemostat except that the nose of the instrument is rounded and blunted with serrated criss-crossed edges inside its beaks to assist with holding a needle.

scissors

various specialized scissors used in oral surgery

tissues

longer handled scissors with a serrated blade edge that is used to grasp and hold the tissue during cutting

suture (scissors)

smaller scissors with one curved, half moon blade that is inserted under the suture thread during cutting

bandage

scissors used to cut material and dressings during surgery

rongeurs

a cutting instrument used to cut boney edges

aspirating tips

disposable or metal suction tips with longer handles and narrower tip openings; used to aspirate sockets, deeper throat areas, and surgical sites

chisel

device that is longer, thicker, and heavier than tooth chisels; used to chip away bone and to apply force enough to break impacted molar teeth that will be removed in sections

mallet

hammer like device used to apply pressure to chisel.

curette

hand instrument with a spoon shaped face that is inserted in the socket or surgical site to scrape out infection and debris.

a surgical curette is larger than a dental operative curette

retractor

draw back; a hand device used to draw back cheek and/or tissue to provide more access or light to the surgical area.

tissue
cheek
tongue

tissue retractor

may be a hemostat-type device with notched tips to hold tissue

cheek retractor

may be bent wire-shaped device or flat, curved handles used to scoop and hold cheek tissue

tongue retractor

scissor type of instrument with longer shaft and padded or serrated edges; used to grasp or hold tongue

mouth prop

small, medium, or large pieces of hard rubber; bite block

suture

closure; used to close up a wound or incision

surgical bur

similar to dental burs but larger in size; used to remove bone, to expose root tips, or to score and divide teeth in preparation for forced sectioning and removal

horizontal impaction

tooth is horizontally tilted

vertical impaction

tooth is in upright position but in close proximity to or under the crown of a nearby tooth

distoangular impaction

crown of the tooth is slanted toward the distal surface and is covered by tissue and/or bone

mesioangular impaction

the crown of the tooth is mesially tilted and covered by tissues and or bone

transverse impaction

tooth is situated sideways to the adjacent teeth and occlusal plane, and it is covered by tissue and/or bone

alveolectomy

surgical removal of alveolar bone crest

surgical template

pattern

alveolitis

infection or inflammation of the alveolar process; dry socket

dry socket

loss of natural clotting

gingivectomy

surgical excision of unattached gingival tissue

gingivoplasty

surgical recountour of the gingival tissues

periodontal flap surgery

surgical excision and removal of pocket or tissue extensions

pericoronitis

gingival irritation and infection

frenectomy

surgical removal or resectioning of a frenum

ankyloglossia

shortness of the tongue frenum; tongue tied

incision and drainage ( i & d)

procedure preformed for a periodontal abcess

malady

disease or disorder

biopsy

small tissue incision

incision biposy

removing a wedge-shaped section of affected tissue along with some normal adjacent tissue

excision biopsy

removal of the entire lesion of affected tissue with some underlying normal tissue

exfoliative biopsy

scraping with glass slide or tongue depressor to collect tissue cell for microscopic study

brush biopsy

a pipe stem brush is drawn across the mouth tissues, scraped against the glass slide, fixed with a solution and sent to a lab

malignant

harmful or growing worse

benign

nonmalignant

leukoplakia

formation of white patches on the mucous membrane of the oral cavity that cannot be scraped off and have potential for for malignancy

fibroma

bengign, fibrous, encapsulated connective tissue tumor

papilloma

benign, epithelial tumor of the skin or mucous membrane

hemangioma

benign tumor of dilated blood vessels

granuloma

grandular tumor usually occurring with other diseases

basal or squamous cell carcinoma

malignant growth of epithelial cells

melanoma

malignant, pigmented mole or tumor

apicoectomy

usually requires opening of the periodontium, including some of the alveolar bone, and exposure with removal of the root apex

exostosis

bony outgrowth; removing overgrowths and smoothing off of bone edges in preparation for dentures

torus

rounded elevation; an excessive bone growth

cysts

abnormal, close-walled sac present in or around tissue

dentigerous

cystic sac containing a tooth or tooth bud particle

radicular

cyst located alongside or at the apex of a tooth root; periapical cyst

ranula

cystic tumor found on the underside of the tongue or in the sublingual or submaxillary ducts; usually a result of a blocked duct

closed fracture reduction

repair with interoral fixation, tooth wiring, or ligation methods in which the teeth are wired together in proper alignment with awaiting bone healing

open fracture reduction

more complicated procedure than closed

genioplasty

plastic surgery of the chin or cheek

macrogenia

large or excessive chin

microgenia

undersized chin

lateral excessive/deficient

excessive bone in one direction

asymmetrical

lack of balance of size and shape on opposite sides

pseudomacrogenia

excessive soft tissue presenting a chine with the look of abnormal size

witch's chin

soft tissue ptosis

ptosis

dropping or sagging of an organ

osteotomy

surgical movement of bone

osteoplasty

forming or recontouring bones

chine augmentation

the option of moving the chin forward by making an incision inside the lower lip and inserting an artificial chin implant or moving the severed bone tip segment forward

ridge augmentation

use of bone grafts to build or correct and underdeveloped or missing ridge possibly needed for tooth or denture

surgical correction

expose and band or peg erupting teeth to prepare the mouth for orthodontic treatment or may remove hidden or retained root tips, cysts, foreign bodies before taking denture impressions

arthrotomy

cutting into a joint; reconstruction and alignment of the mandible for tmj disorders

retrusive

position the mandible backward

protrusive

position the mandible forward

lateral

position to the side

cleft lip repair

tissue fissure or incomplete juncture of maxillary lip tissues

cleft palate repair

congential fissure in roof of mouth with an opening into the nasal cavity

orthodnathic surgery

surgical manipulation of the facial skeleton to restore facial esthetics and proper function to a congenital, developmental, or traumatic affected patient

computerized mandibular scan

3d tracking device to record functional movement of the jaw during opening, closing, chewing, and swallowing

electromyogram

surface electrodes instrument to determine muscle activity during function; health muscles have low levels of electrical activity

electrosonograph

recording of sounds during opening and closing od the jaw

ct

x ray images taken at different angles and computerized into a cross-section of anatomical features.

hemiarthroplasty

surgical repair of a joint with a partial joint implant recontruction

autogenous reconstruction

rebuilding of the joint using organic material supplied by the patient, such as a toe or rib bone graft

allograft reconstruction

graft material taken from human donors to rebuild jaw bone

xenograft

harvested from animals

total joint reconstruction

surgical intervention and use of artificial prosthesis for the condyle, disc, and fossa of the temporal bone

revision surgery

surgical correction of an area that has been operated on previous, occurring when further degeneration happens, when previous implants have failed

endosteal

placement within the bone