Oral Surgery – Houston, TX

Several people smiling outside of Roman Dental office building

Advanced Services to Support Our Patients’ Health and Well-Being

Unlike dental hygiene, most patients have never had an oral surgery procedure. Because surgery is unfamiliar Dr. Kotlarek and his team take time to explain the procedures, methods of sedation, recuperation time and post-operative care. Knowing what to expect eases anxiety and sets patients up for a relaxed experience with they visit us for oral surgery in Houston, TX.

Dental surgery is done, when needed, to eliminate toothaches, infections and swelling. Importantly, resolving dental infections and wisdom tooth impactions improves overall health. Specifically, oral surgery to remove infected teeth often has dramatic beneficial effects on blood sugar control for diabetic patients. For oral surgery, you are in good hands when you choose to visit Roman Dental. As a general dentist performing oral surgery for over twenty-five years in Houston, Dr. Kotlarek and his team provide advanced surgical procedures, including the following.

Why Choose Roman Dental For Oral Surgery?

  • Experienced Dentist
  • Advanced Technology
  • Talented & Caring Team

Consultation

X-ray of smile with arrow showing areas to address with oral surgery

Regardless of your dental situation, the team at Roman Dental is ready to help. They will check your teeth, make recommendations and discuss treatment options without judgement. The staff will help find a solution that will work to treat your needs. Many patients come to Roman Dental with simple problems, others haven’t seen a dentist in years.  In all cases we “open all the doors” and work to get patients chewing and smiling as quickly and simply as possible. This dentist and his staff freely discuss treatment choices, fees, insurance and out-of-pocket costs before treatment is begun. This office has open communication to provide care in a relaxed and stress-free environment.

Wisdom Tooth Extractions

X-ray of smile showing impacted wisdom tooth before extraction

The wisdom teeth are the third molars at the back of the mouth. Because teeth can become impacted (trapped under the gum tissue), they have the potential to cause numerous oral health problems. Dr. Kotlarek has refined third molar impaction surgery to minimize discomfort. In most cases, patients are sedated intravenously during the procedure and have no memory of the surgical experience. Additionally, long-lasting intravenous anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea medications are provided to support a comfortable post operative healing. These medications reduce the need for narcotic pain prescriptions. Each patient’s needs are evaluated and treatment decisions are made to provide a comfortable outcome.

Surgical Tooth Extractions

Many teeth require surgical removal. For example, teeth broken or decayed at the gumline are surgically removed. Planned surgical tooth removal is done to lessen tissue trauma, speed the extraction and minimize post operative discomfort. Unknown to most people, when tooth decay is not eliminated the cavity spreads to the adjacent teeth. Early extraction of hopeless teeth prevents dental problems from expanding unnecessarily. If you ever require a surgical tooth extraction, you can be confident that we will do all we can to make you comfortable.

Why should wisdom teeth be removed?

There are three main reasons that wisdom teeth should be removed. In the past few years, more young adults are complaining of A) infections, which cause gum and toothaches, B) impactions which damage adjacent teeth and C) front teeth becoming crowded as back molars are driven forward. These symptoms are the result of impacted wisdom teeth being left untreated. Have your child’s teeth checked. Frequently wisdom teeth cause no discomfort, allowing them to go unnoticed beneath the gum tissue. Unfortunately, impacted teeth can quietly cause irreversible problems. If wisdom tooth removal is needed, it’s least complicated and most comfortable to have treatment between ages 16 – 21.

Wisdom teeth often break through the gumline and seem too just barely fit. Dentists rarely discuss with their young patients how this tight fit, of wisdom teeth within the jaw, can initiate a harmful condition called periodontal (gum) disease. Because it’s difficult to clean the back surface of these molars, a habitat for bacterial growth develops in the area and slowly spreads within the mouth. Because periodontal disease is difficult to detect in its early stages and is impossible to cure once signs and symptoms become evident – wisdom tooth removal is the best option to prevent the early onset of gum disease. To achieve life-long dental health, have your child’s teeth professionally examined and treated.

For more information about wisdom teeth click here.

Bone Grafts & Dental Implants

Dental implants are the best form of tooth replacement. However, the procedure to place a dental implant requires that a patient’s jawbone is large enough to support the implant. When a dental implant tooth replacement is desired, it’s important for patients to understand the need to preserve jawbone width. This is because, unfortunately, tooth extraction results in bone volume loss. Happily, a graft, done at the time of extraction, prevents the loss of bone volume. This preventive bone graft simplifies and lessens the cost of dental implant placement.

Alternatively, when bone has already been lost because of a previous extraction, other methods of grafting are done to predicably rebuild missing bone. Techniques to replace lost bone work well but do take extra time to heal and add expense to the implant procedure. To rebuild the jaw, many options are available when selecting bone substitutes and membrane materials. Dr. Kotlarek discusses different choices and the potential benefits and limitations of those selections when grafting is needed.

Sinus Lifts

Animated smile showing sinus lift procedure

In some patients who require dental implants to replace upper teeth, their jawbone is too thin, as a result the implants would penetrate the sinus membrane. To prevent this issue, we perform a sinus lift, which is a special type of bone graft. We carefully access the sinus membrane, push it upward, and then keep it in its new position with substitute bone material.

Soft Tissue (Gum) Grafts

Roman Dental performs soft tissue grafts, also known as root coverage grafts. In the case of gum recession, tissue from the roof of the mouth is trimmed and used to re-grow gum tissue that has receded and caused root exposure. Root coverage grafts are done to reduce tooth sensitivity and prevent gum recession from progressing.

In a healthy mouth, tooth roots are normally covered and protected by gum tissue. Without the gum’s protection, root surface decay often occurs. Further, because root decay is difficult repair, teeth are commonly extracted as a direct result of long-term root exposure.

Grafts, to treat gum recession on the upper front teeth, deliver a remarkable improvement in the appearance of a person’s smile.