Oral Maxillofacial surgery is a specialty of dentistry that addresses more complex needs for people with tooth problems.
You feel that gnawing toothache. It throbs and aches, disrupting your day and keeping you up at night. You need help, but regular dental care doesn’t seem enough. You might need an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
These highly trained specialists perform complex procedures on the face, head, neck, jaws, and oral cavity. Their expertise can relieve your suffering and restore function. Yet many don’t fully understand what these surgeons do.
Dr. Elaine Wu and ReNEW Dental provide comprehensive treatment planning to ensure all of her patients can enjoy total oral health. When complex surgical problems are recognized, Dr. Elaine Wu can refer you for advanced oral and maxillofacial surgery in the Tewksbury, MA area.
Her patients are referred to local, trusted oral maxillofacial surgeons like Lowell Oral Surgery. Come see Dr. Elaine Wu … improving smiles, changing lives!
Get the Smile You’ve Wanted with Dr. Elaine Wu DMD
When you first meet Dr. Elaine Wu and her team at ReNEW Dental, you’ll immediately feel at ease. Her calm demeanor and attentive consultation put even the most anxious patients at ease. She takes the time to listen to your unique dental needs, concerns, and goals. Whether you want minor dental work or full mouth rehabilitation, Dr. Elaine Wu can craft a tailored treatment plan just for you.
ReNEW Dental delivers comprehensive solutions all under one roof. On your first visit, they’ll perform a thorough evaluation utilizing the latest technology like digital scans, 3D imaging, and laser diagnostics.
Dr. Elaine Wu even offers cutting-edge saliva testing to check for harmful oral bacteria that can impact your overall health. This initial appointment provides crucial information to map out your custom treatment path.
At ReNEW Dental, Dr. Elaine Wu leverages advanced techniques like sedation dentistry for optimal comfort. If you have dental anxiety, you can ease into treatments worry-free. ReNEW Dental’s collaborative approach ensures you get the compassionate, individualized care you deserve.
ReNEW Dental’s collaborative approach with her oral surgery consultant, Dr. James Wu, ensures you get the compassionate, individualized care you deserve.
The Complex World of Advanced Oral Maxillofacial Surgery
Oral and maxillofacial surgery goes far beyond standard dental care. Oral maxillofacial surgeons evaluate and treat issues involving the complex structures of your mouth, jaws, face, and neck.
Their work is highly technical and requires extensive training. Oral maxillofacial procedures often use advanced techniques like 3D imaging, robotic surgery, tissue grafts, and facial reconstruction. Treatment may involve the removal of diseases or imperfections, repair of trauma, or restoration of appearance and function.
It’s an incredibly broad specialty covering conditions like:
- Corrective jaw surgery
- Facial reconstruction after trauma
- Oral cancer treatment
- Facial cosmetic surgery
- Cleft lip and palate repair
- Facial deformity correction
- TMJ surgery
- Wisdom tooth surgery
- Dental implant surgery
The expertise and capabilities of these surgeons are unmatched. They devote years to honing their advanced surgical skills and techniques.
The Difference from Standard Dentistry
How exactly do oral and maxillofacial surgeons differ from your general dentist?
Though both are doctors of oral health, the surgeons possess advanced expertise that goes far beyond standard dental care.
Some key differences include:
- Surgical focus: Surgeons devote their training to complex surgical procedures other dentists might not perform.
- Medical doctor collaboration: They work hand-in-hand with physicians to coordinate comprehensive treatment.
- Anesthesia administration: Surgeons are trained to provide all levels of anesthesia, from local to general.
- Hospital operating privileges: They perform procedures in a hospital OR and coordinate inpatient care.
- Complex case focus: Surgeons have the insight and skills to handle the most complex dental issues and facial trauma.
- Specialized technology: They utilize advanced 3D imaging, robotic surgery, tissue grafting, and specialized
- Broad expertise: Their knowledge spans the full scope of oral health, facial structures, disease, trauma, and reconstructive surgery.
Just as dentists provide routine care and screenings, oral surgeons can offer advanced surgical solutions. Their capabilities allow them to transform serious issues involving the face, mouth, and jaw.
What to Expect after Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Oral and maxillofacial surgeons provide life-changing solutions. Their technical skills and broad expertise offer hope when you have:
- Lingering dental pain: They can definitively treat chronic toothaches and jaw pain that persist despite standard care.
- Traumatic facial injuries: Surgeons can reconstruct even severely damaged facial features and bones.
- Oral cancer: They coordinate surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy to treat complex cancers.
- Obstructive sleep apnea: Surgery can help remove airway obstructions and improve sleep.
- TMJ disorders: From arthritis to disc issues, surgeons can restore jaw function and relieve pain.
- Congenital defects: Surgery can correct conditions like cleft lip and palate for enhanced speech and aesthetics.
- Facial asymmetry: Surgeons can bring balance and proportion to uneven or misaligned faces.
With their advanced capabilities, oral and maxillofacial surgeons can walk with you on your health journey. They can craft customized solutions that help you speak, breathe, chew, smile, and live your best life. You don’t have to suffer needlessly or feel embarrassed about the appearance of your face or mouth.
Act Now!
Dr. Elaine Wu treats a wide range of complex conditions involving the mouth, jaw, face, and neck. Her technical skills and warm chairside manner aim to help every patient feel comfortable, informed, and hopeful. Although she is not an oral maxillofacial surgeon, she sees oral surgery as an opportunity to profoundly impact people’s lives.
As such, her practice ReNEW Dental has access to an oral surgery consultant and trainer, Dr. James Wu, who is a board certified oral maxillofacial surgeon with over 30 years of experience in the field of dentistry, medicine and surgery.
Dr. James Wu is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Boston University School of Dental Medicine where he teaches the next generation of oral maxillofacial surgery residents at Boston University Medical Center and Boston Medical Center.
With an in-house oral maxillofacial surgery consultant and trainer, Dr. Elaine Wu can provide all her patients with advanced evaluation and treatment options in consultation with Dr. James Wu.
At her state-of-the-art practice, Dr. Elaine Wu utilizes the latest technology and techniques to optimize your treatment, technology that is usually only found in specialist offices. This includes options like:
- 3D CBCT imaging for highly detailed views
- Intravenous sedation for comfortable procedures
- Bone grafting to support implants and facial bones
- Advanced laser surgery to minimize discomfort
- Custom-designed dental implants for natural looking teeth
Contact Dr. Elaine Wu now before it’s too late!
Schedule your FREE consultation today!
Questions & Answers’s
What is Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery?
In simple terms, oral and maxillofacial surgeons are specially trained dentists who perform complex operations on the mouth, jaws, face and neck.
They treat very serious issues that general dentists can’t handle like:
- Facial injuries and reconstruction after accidents
- Correcting jaw misalignment or asymmetry
- Oral cancer surgery
- Cleft lip and palate repair
- TMJ surgery and fixing chronic jaw/face pain
- Dental implants and advanced tooth extractions
Bottom line, these surgeons do the big time operations other providers can’t. That’s why you get referred to them for major problems affecting your oral health and facial structure.
How Does Oral Maxillofacial Surgery Process Work?
Every case is unique, but the basic process goes like this:
First, you’ll have an exam, x-rays or 3D scans, and an in-depth talk about what’s going on. The surgeon then puts together a customized treatment plan mapping out the surgery and recovery.
On the day of surgery, you’ll get anesthesia so you stay comfortable. The surgeon performs the operation, often with cutting-edge technology like lasers or robots for precision work.
Afterwards, you follow up with the surgeon to ensure optimal healing. They work closely with you to get your smile, speech and bite back to normal. Total treatment time depends on the specific case.
The key is you’ve got an expert quarterback calling the shots and executing the game plan flawlessly from start to finish.
How is This Different From My Dentist?
While both are oral health dentists, oral surgeons take things to the next level with:
- Years of extra surgical training beyond dental school
- Certification as medical doctors (MD)
- Advanced skills like jaw reconstruction and cancer surgery
- High-tech tools like 3D imaging and robots
- Ability to perform surgery in the hospital OR
- Expertise with anesthesia from local numbing to general intubation
- Collaboration with physicians on complex care coordination
- Broad knowledge of facial anatomy and specialized techniques
So in a nutshell, they’ve got the advanced capabilities, medical credentials and surgical expertise to fix really complex problems regular dentists can’t.
Do I Really Need to See a Surgeon?
Your dentist will refer you to an oral surgeon if you have something like:
- Lingering jaw or facial pain not improving with standard care
- Oral cancer needing specialized surgery, chemo or radiation
- Facial trauma with broken bones or damaged features
- Birth defects like cleft palate or lip requiring reconstruction
- Misaligned bite needing intensive jaw realignment procedures
- Obstructive sleep apnea that may benefit from surgical intervention
- Facial asymmetry you want corrected for balance and proportion
Bottom line, you see the surgeon when you need their advanced expertise to get the best outcome with complex oral health issues.
What Are These Surgeons Called?
You may hear them referred to as:
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMFS)
- Oral surgeons
- Maxillofacial surgeons
The “oral” part focuses on the mouth – “maxillofacial” includes the whole face and neck. But nowadays, most surgeons are trained to treat both areas.
Contact Us
Phone:
978-451-1500
Address:
1201 Main St.
Tewksbury, MA 01876
Email:
team@mybrandnewsimile.com
