There are a great many problems that can affect our oral health and only some of these are concerned with the teeth themselves. Of course, the health of our teeth is also critical, but it shouldn’t be the only reason you visit your dentist’s office. In fact, any time you have pain in the mouth, jaws and neck might be a good time to consult the dentist. It’s true that some of these symptoms could be related to cold and flu or other illnesses, but many of the same symptoms are indicators of physical problems that affect your overall oral health.
Some of these problems are disease related while others are actual physical defects or the result of injury or trauma. Others are simply aesthetic or may affect the soft tissues in the mouth or throat. One of these ailments is actually quite common and suffered by many people on a nightly basis. It is often diagnosed as sleep apnea or the rapid halt in breathing while sleeping. The degree that this illness affects people will vary by the patient, but it can result in a severe loss of oxygen which could cause serious health concerns and even loss of brain function.
Healing and repairing the causes of these illnesses is the function of oral and maxillofacial surgery in Phoenix. These specialist deal with many of the issues that affect the soft tissue, cartilage and bone in the mouth, throat, neck and face. Their primary concerns are the function of these areas and the improvement of their patient’s quality of life.
However, many oral and maxillofacial surgery in Phoenix procedures are also beneficial to the patients overall looks. For example, the reshaping of the jaw can make a person’s smile much more presentable while at the same time giving them a more functional bite and chewing ability. Sometimes, setting the jaws are the easy part. Restructuring the soft tissues can be a greater challenge because the surgeon may not have all the tissue they require or they may have to force existing tissue to take on a new function. In many cases however, this challenge is why these specialists enter this field.
