Restoring Smiles

Your Oral Surgeon in Blue Island & Chicago

Dr. Ronnie Ata is proud to be your oral surgeon in the Blue Island and Chicagoland area. Bright Smile Family Dental performs general oral surgery procedures including tooth extractions, dental implants, and bone grafting procedures.

Oral surgery is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of surgical procedures involving the teeth, jawbones, gums, and other structures of the oral-maxillofacial complex. The field of oral surgery is constantly evolving. Bright Smile Family Dental stays up-to-date with all the latest techniques and technologies.

To schedule an oral surgery consultation, call us today!

Wisdom Tooth Extractions

The third molars are often referred to as “wisdom teeth” as they typically erupt later in life, typically between the ages of 16 to 24. Contrary to common belief, wisdom teeth do not always require extraction. If there is space for the third molars to erupt without crowding or damaging neighboring teeth, and these molars are accessible for brushing and flossing, then an extraction is not always necessary. Although, if the patient has a history of dental caries/cavities, an extraction may be recommended in order to avoid future complications.

The most common complications that occur with wisdom teeth are typically caused by a lack of space in the arch for proper eruption.

Common Complications

Here are some common complications that can occur with wisdom teeth:

• Crowding. The most common complication, crowding can lead to dental injuries or, more commonly, push neighboring teeth out of alignment, which will require future orthodontic treatment or extraction.
• Partial Eruption. When a wisdom tooth partially erupts through the gums, it can make the wisdom tooth and surrounding tissues difficult to clean. This can lead to infection, cavities, and other complications.
• Impaction. When a wisdom tooth fails to erupt through the gums, it is referred to as an impacted tooth. An impacted wisdom tooth can progress to a painful infection or injury to the roots of neighboring teeth and bone tissue. A fluid-filled sac called a cyst may also form around the unerupted tooth, which can injure the surrounding tissues or nerves of adjacent teeth.

Dental Implants

A dental implant is a titanium post that is surgically placed in the jawbone. Dental implants are considered the “gold standard” of tooth replacement options as they fuse with the jawbone in a biological process known as osseointegration. This process means your implant will have similar strength and stability properties to a natural tooth root.

There are numerous methods to place a dental implant. Typically, the implant post is placed with bone grafting material and is then “buried,” or covered over, with soft tissue to allow the site to heal for approximately nine months. Once the bone has completely filled in around the implant, the implant is ready to be restored with a final abutment and prosthesis, which is usually a porcelain or zirconia crown.

How do I know if I’m a viable candidate?

To be a viable candidate for this procedure, the implant site should have sufficient bone density and volume, as well as be free of gum disease. If the bone tissue shows significant atrophy, bone grafting and guided bone regeneration can be used to ensure there is enough healthy bone material to support a dental implant.

Dr. Ronnie Ata and the staff at Bright Smile Family Dental perform single-site dental implants. Call us for a consultation on dental implants in the Blue Island and Chicago area.

Bone Grafting

The purpose of dental bone grafting is to restore bone dentistry and volume to the jawbone, typically in places where tooth loss has occurred. Bone grafting is often recommended as an adjunct therapy to dental implants, or to fill the socket of a missing tooth in order to maintain the position of a neighboring tooth or teeth.

There are many types of bone grafts available and these are used to accomplish specific therapy objectives. Bone grafting material can be harvest from a patient’s own tissue (autogenous), from another species (xenograft), or even from a tissue bank (allograft). Sometimes, a synthetic graft (alloplast) is used alongside autogenous tissue in order to build up a sizable bone structure. Regardless of the type of graft that is used, the material will eventually be replaced with your own bone tissue.

Have a question on bone grafting? Contact Bright Smile Family Dental today.