Thane Oral & Maxillofacial surgery

Preparing yourself for an oral surgery appointment –

So, you saw your dentist and he/she said you need oral surgery to fix your problem and they will be calling in an oral surgeon to do the job. There are a few things you can do to make the process easy on yourself.

Some general instructions –
1. Stop smoking 1 day before your surgery. This will greatly reduce the chances of infection.
2. Get 8-10 hours of sleep the night before surgery.
3. Have a light meal 2 hours before your appointment. This will help prevent light-headedness.
4. Use the restroom before leaving your house. (Effect of air conditioning)
5. Wear loose comfortable clothing. Please remember to bring a jacket or a sweater if you tend to feel cold. (Remember the air conditioning?)
6. Please put your cell phone in silent mode when you enter the clinic.

Things to bring along with you –
7. All relevant blood tests, x-rays and scans.
8. If you are being treated for any medical disease please bring a list of all the medicines you are taking along with any doctor’s notes if available.
9. It’s a good idea to bring a responsible adult to accompany you home after procedure.
10. If you are a minor, a parent/legal guardian is a must.

Medicines to be used –
11. Take an additional Antibiotic tablet 1 hour before your procedure. (To prevent infection.)
12. Take a painkiller tablet 1 hour before procedure. Doing this reduces pain after surgery. You’ll also need less painkillers later using this approach.
13. Start using Chlorhexidine 0.2 % mouthwash 4 times a day, 1 day before surgery. (Again, to prevent infection.)
14. If you are unusually stressed out, the dentist may ask you to take a sedative tablet on the night prior to, and 1 hour before surgery. It will help calm you down.

So, if you remember to do these things, I’m sure your appointment will go smoothly.

However, please note, the above is general advice. To get more specific advice regarding your particular problem please ask your dentist. As always, take care and have a great day.

All about wisdom teeth – my personal experience

Third molar removal is my favourite procedure in the entire scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

So far, I have removed over 7,500 of them (stopped counting in 2018) out of which over 3,000 were minor surgical procedures (still counting, will stop when I reach 10,000), (I’m a Tendulkar fan).

Firstly, I would like to clarify why third molars are often called wisdom teeth. They usually erupt into view between the ages of 18-25 years, approximately the time when one becomes worldly wise or in other words gains wisdom. Unfortunately, these teeth have nothing to do with wisdom, smartness or intelligence.

Secondly, I’d also like to add that they are also not useful teeth because they are usually too far back or improperly aligned to help one chew their food properly.

But I’ll tell you how they do affect your life without getting too theoretical or academic -
1. When they begin to erupt, they may cause pain and swelling, difficulty in opening the mouth and eating food. These problems can be bothersome for students and people in their first jobs.
2. They generally tend to get worse when one is otherwise occupied. E.g. Studying for an exam, preparing for an interview etc.
3. Very often there is insufficient space for them to erupt properly or they are improperly aligned, so there is usually some gum tissue that covers the tooth. It is now impossible to clean this area properly with a toothbrush. This frequently results in gum infection and tooth decay leading to severe pain, swelling, difficulty in opening the mouth etc.
4. The pain may be felt over the temple, both jaws, in front of the ear and may extend up to the neck.
5. Very often food may get stuck between the third molar and second molar causing decay in the second molar which is actually a tooth useful in chewing food.
6. To make things worse, these teeth usually have a very complicated root canal anatomy (structure) which reduces the chances of successful root canal treatment.

In summation, I’d like to say that choosing to get these teeth removed when they start giving you problems may be your best bet at avoiding problems. The earlier the better. Younger patients usually take the procedure well, heal better and get back to normal faster than do older ones.

However, please note, the above is general advice. To get more specific advice regarding your particular problem please ask your dentist. As always, take care and have a great day.

Diabetes & dentistry

Hi everyone,
I am a dentist by profession and a specialist at performing surgery of the mouth, jaws and face. I encounter several patients in my line of work requiring dental and surgical treatment while affected by diabetes and the problems that come along with.
Here is my advice on how a diabetic patient can better take care of his/her oral health. I will try to be as simple as possible without distorting the science.

Firstly, the problems with diabetes,
1. Patients tend to produce less amounts of saliva. Saliva has certain properties that prevent tooth decay. Therefore, these patients tend to be prone to tooth decay and having a dry mouth.
2. The ability of the body to fight infections is reduced. Bacteria accumulate around teeth and within the gums leading to gum infection and bleeding which we call gingivitis. As this disease progresses, it affects the bone surrounding teeth, now called periodontitis. Affected teeth lose the gum tissue and bone around them causing the teeth to become lose and eventually fall out.
3. Tissue on the tongue responsible for sensing taste called papillae atrophy (shrink) causing food to seem less tasty.
4. When dental treatment is performed, especially surgical work like gum surgery or tooth removal wound healing may take longer than usual.
5. A fungal infection called Oral thrush can occur, causing white patches on the tongue which become sore or turn into an ulcer.
6. Certain patients may experience a burning sensation in the mouth called Burning mouth syndrome.

Now, what to do,
1. Brush your teeth twice every day with toothpaste that contains fluoride. Clean your tongue gently with a tongue cleaner. Also clean in-between the teeth with floss or an interdental brush (ask your dentist which one you need).
2. Visit your dentist once every six months even if you don’t feel you have any problems.
3. Eat a healthy and nutritious diet. (not my area of expertise, please consult a nutritionist)
4. Smoking tends to make diabetes worse. One would do better by quitting.
5. Avoid having a dry mouth – drink plenty of water and chew sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva production.
6. Dentures – clean your dentures daily if you wear any.
7. Dental treatment in patients with poor diabetes control – It is my experience that dental treatment and surgical work can proceed normally (with all other due precautions taken of course) except the insertion of dental implants.

However, please note, the above is general advice. To get more specific advice regarding your particular problem please ask your dentist. As always, take care and have a great day

What do OMS practitioners do?

Just to mention the usual work done -

Third molar removal – This is probably the most common procedure which we perform. Problems caused by third molars are not new to anyone but just as a general guideline, it’s probably best to remove them when one is in their early twenties. Trust me; you’ll regret if you don’t listen to our advice.

Dental implant placement – Nowadays dental implants are being used very frequently for replacing lost teeth. In a simple case a general dentist can usually place the implant himself/herself but in a complicated case where the hard and soft tissue foundation is inadequate one may seek our help.

Jaw fracture management – The knowledge of teeth and occlusion makes us the best doctors to choose when it comes to treating fractures of the jaws.

Temporo-mandibular(jaw) joint disease – Several people suffer from pain in the jaw joint usually in front of the ear. This problem can make life very difficult. Need help? Ask your dentist to schedule an appointment with us.

Jaw repositioning surgery – The shape, form and position of your jaws may be abnormal. This can lead to several cosmetic and functional problems. But this can usually be corrected by several techniques which we are well versed with. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by what we can do for you.

Other areas where our colleagues have gained expertise are performing surgery for Oral cancer, surgery to correct Cleft lip and palate deformities and performing various Cosmetic facial surgery procedures.

The list goes on. The scope of our specialty is vast and constantly expanding. I’ll keep you posted.

Who is an OMS practitioner?

An OMS (Oral and maxillofacial surgery) practitioner is a doctor who has a graduate degree in dental surgery and a post graduate degree in oral and maxillofacial surgery from a recognized university in India.

The training in dentistry is acquired at a dental college usually attached to a medical college over a period of 5 years.
The training in oral and maxillofacial surgery follows a similar route but involves additional training in the hospital setting in emergency care, anesthesia, ear nose and throat surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology and cleft and craniofacial surgery and is of 3 years duration.

The education and training makes a practitioner the foremost expert when it comes to performing surgery of the mouth and jaws and a very capable doctor in performing surgery of the head, eye sockets, nose, ears, face and neck.

What is Oral and maxillofacial surgery ?

Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS or OMFS) specializes in treating many diseases, injuries and defects in the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral (mouth) and maxillofacial (jaws and face) region.
It is an internationally recognized surgical specialty.
In India it is a recognized subspecialty of dentistry.
In countries such as the UK, Australia and most of Europe, it is recognized as both a specialty of medicine and dentistry, and a dual degree in medicine and dentistry is compulsory.
In other countries including the United States, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, and Sweden, it is a recognized specialty of dentistry.

WHO AM I ?

I am Dr. Sudhir Jagannathan

B.D.S. from Government dental college and hospital, Nagpur in 2010

M.D.S. In Oral & maxillofacial surgery form Manipal college of dental sciences, Mangalore in 2014
I stood first in my specialty in my university exams in M.D.S.

Currently a consultant to several dental clinics in Mumbai where i have performed numerous minor surgical procedures,
attached to tertiary hospitals in Thane where i have performed several surgeries for treating maxillofacial pathology, trauma, head and neck infections and TM joint disease
i am also one of the few Oral & maxillofacial surgeons in Mumbai who performs orthognathic surgical procedures and facial cosmetic surgery