Oral Surgeon in Brentwood, CA
Finding an oral surgeon you actually trust makes all the difference. We know that. At Fairview Dental, we provide a full range of oral surgery services right here in Brentwood, CA, so you don’t have to drive to Walnut Creek or the East Bay for specialized care. Whether you need a straightforward extraction or a complex surgical procedure, our team combines technical precision with a genuinely warm approach because nobody should feel anxious about getting the care they need.
Oral surgery covers a lot of ground. Extractions, wisdom teeth, bone grafting, sinus lifts, root end surgeries. These are procedures that require advanced training, careful planning, and steady hands. We bring all of that to every case. And because we’re a dental practice that knows our patients personally, not a referral office where you’re starting from scratch, we already understand your history, your concerns, and what matters to you. That continuity of care is something our patients in neighborhoods like Deer Ridge, Shadow Lakes, and Summerset tell us they really value.
If you’ve been told you need oral surgery, or if you suspect something is going on that a general cleaning can’t fix, we’d love to talk it through with you. Call our Brentwood office and we’ll start with a thorough evaluation so you know exactly where things stand before any decisions get made.
Tooth Extractions
Sometimes a tooth just can’t be saved. We wish that weren’t the case, but decay, infection, fractures, and advanced periodontal disease can all push a tooth past the point of repair. When that happens, extracting it isn’t giving up. It’s protecting everything around it.
A tooth extraction is the removal of a tooth from its socket in the alveolar bone. Simple extractions involve teeth that are visible above the gumline and can be loosened with an instrument called an elevator before being removed with forceps. The procedure sounds intimidating, but with proper local anesthesia, most patients feel pressure rather than pain. We take the time to make sure you’re fully numb before we begin, and we check in with you throughout.
There are plenty of reasons a tooth might need to come out. Severe decay that has destroyed too much tooth structure for a crown to hold onto. A vertical root fracture that splits the tooth below the gumline. Periodontal disease that has eroded the bone supporting the tooth to the point where it’s mobile and non-functional. Sometimes teeth need to be removed for orthodontic reasons, or because a failed root canal has left persistent infection at the root tip. Each situation is different, and we evaluate every case individually using clinical examination and digital imaging before recommending extraction.
After an extraction, the socket goes through a healing process that typically takes one to two weeks for the soft tissue to close over. Full bone remodeling underneath takes several months. We give you detailed post-operative instructions covering everything from gauze management and diet to activity restrictions and what signs to watch for. Dry socket, which occurs when the blood clot in the extraction site becomes dislodged, is the most common complication. It’s painful but treatable, and following our aftercare guidelines significantly reduces the risk.
Brentwood families are busy. Kids have practice at the sports parks, parents are commuting, weekends fill up fast. We get it. That’s why we try to make the extraction process as efficient as possible while never rushing through the important parts. If you’ve been dealing with a tooth that’s been bothering you for weeks or months, stop putting it off. The longer a compromised tooth stays in your mouth, the more it can affect the teeth and bone around it. Reach out to our Brentwood office and let’s take a look.
Wisdom Tooth Removal
Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars, and most people develop them between the ages of 17 and 25. For some people, they come in just fine. For a lot of people, they don’t. The human jaw has been getting smaller over evolutionary time, and there’s often simply not enough room for these late arrivals to erupt properly. That’s when problems start.
When wisdom teeth don’t have space to emerge, they can become impacted, meaning they’re trapped beneath the gum tissue or bone. Even when they do partially erupt, the positioning is frequently angled or rotated, creating pockets where food and bacteria accumulate. This leads to pericoronitis, which is an infection of the soft tissue surrounding a partially erupted tooth. It’s painful, it recurs, and it’s one of the most common reasons young adults end up in our office.
We see a lot of wisdom tooth patients in Brentwood. Many are teenagers whose parents noticed the teeth on a panoramic X-ray during a routine exam. Others are young adults in their twenties who ignored the recommendation to have them out and are now dealing with pain, crowding, or infection. And occasionally, we see patients in their thirties or forties whose wisdom teeth have finally started causing trouble after years of sitting quietly.
The procedure itself depends on the position and development of each tooth. Fully erupted wisdom teeth may come out with a straightforward extraction. Impacted teeth require a surgical approach, which we’ll cover in more detail below. We use digital imaging to map the exact position of each wisdom tooth relative to the inferior alveolar nerve, the maxillary sinus, and adjacent teeth. This careful preoperative planning allows us to minimize surgical time and reduce the risk of complications.
Recovery from wisdom tooth removal typically involves three to five days of moderate swelling and discomfort, managed with prescribed or over-the-counter medications, cold compresses, and a soft diet. Most patients are back to normal activities within a week. We schedule a follow-up appointment to check healing and remove any sutures. If you or your teen has been told it’s time to address those wisdom teeth, give our Brentwood office a call and we’ll walk you through the whole process from start to finish.
Surgical Extractions
Not every tooth comes out easily. When a tooth has broken off at the gumline, has curved or divergent roots, is ankylosed (fused to the bone), or is otherwise inaccessible with standard extraction instruments, a surgical extraction becomes necessary.
This is a step beyond a simple extraction, and it requires a different set of skills and tools. During a surgical extraction, we create a small flap in the gum tissue to expose the tooth and surrounding bone. In many cases, we need to remove a small amount of bone around the tooth or section the tooth into pieces to extract it safely. Sectioning a multi-rooted tooth allows each root to be removed individually through a smaller opening, which preserves more bone and reduces trauma to the surrounding tissue. Every step is deliberate and controlled.
We perform surgical extractions for a variety of clinical situations. Teeth with previous root canal treatment can become brittle and fracture during extraction attempts, requiring a surgical approach. Teeth with hypercementosis, a condition where excess cementum builds up on the root surface, can be extremely difficult to luxate from the socket. Retained root tips from prior incomplete extractions sometimes need to be surgically retrieved, especially when they’re associated with infection or are in close proximity to anatomical structures like the mental foramen or the floor of the maxillary sinus.
Anesthesia for surgical extractions is thorough. We use local anesthetic, often with a long-acting agent like bupivacaine for extended post-operative comfort, and we offer sedation options for patients who need additional help relaxing. We understand that the words “surgical extraction” can sound alarming. But this is a procedure we perform regularly, and our patients consistently tell us it was much less difficult than they expected.
Post-operative care is similar to simple extractions but may involve a slightly longer recovery period. Sutures are typically placed to close the surgical site, and we may prescribe antibiotics if there was active infection present. Detailed written instructions go home with you, and our team is available by phone if anything comes up during your recovery. Contact our Brentwood office to discuss whether a surgical extraction is the right approach for your situation.
Impacted Tooth Removal
An impacted tooth is one that has failed to erupt into its expected position in the dental arch. While wisdom teeth are the most commonly impacted teeth, canines (also called cuspids or eye teeth) are the second most frequent, and occasionally premolars or other teeth can be impacted as well. The causes vary: insufficient arch space, abnormal tooth positioning, the presence of supernumerary (extra) teeth, or pathology like cysts or odontomas blocking the eruption path.
Impaction is classified by depth and angulation. A soft tissue impaction means the tooth has penetrated through bone but remains covered by gum tissue. A partial bony impaction means the tooth is still partially encased in the jawbone. A full bony impaction means the tooth is completely surrounded by bone. The deeper and more angled the impaction, the more complex the surgical approach required for removal.
We use cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging when standard X-rays don’t give us enough information about an impacted tooth’s three-dimensional relationship to surrounding structures. For lower impacted wisdom teeth, we need to know exactly where the inferior alveolar nerve canal runs relative to the roots. For upper impacted teeth, the proximity to the maxillary sinus matters. For impacted canines, we need to understand the tooth’s position relative to the roots of adjacent incisors and premolars to avoid damaging them during surgery.
The surgical technique for impacted tooth removal involves raising a mucoperiosteal flap, removing overlying bone with a surgical handpiece under copious irrigation to prevent thermal injury, and carefully delivering the tooth. Sometimes we section the tooth to minimize the amount of bone that needs to be removed. Preserving bone is always a priority because it affects healing, future implant options, and the integrity of neighboring teeth.
For younger patients whose impacted canines still have the potential to erupt, we sometimes coordinate with orthodontists in a combined approach. We surgically expose the impacted tooth and bond a small bracket and gold chain to it, which the orthodontist then uses to gradually guide the tooth into position over several months. It’s a collaborative process that can save a tooth that would otherwise need to be extracted and replaced.
Recovery from impacted tooth removal varies depending on the complexity of the case. Swelling peaks around 48 to 72 hours and gradually resolves over the following week. We provide specific guidance on managing discomfort, maintaining nutrition with a modified diet, and keeping the surgical site clean. If you’ve been told you have an impacted tooth, reach out to our Brentwood office so we can review your imaging and discuss your options.
Bone Grafting
Bone grafting is one of those procedures that patients don’t usually hear about until they need it. And then they have a lot of questions, which is completely understandable. At its core, bone grafting is the process of adding bone material to the jaw to rebuild volume and density that has been lost. That loss can happen for several reasons: tooth extraction, periodontal disease, trauma, long-term denture wear, or simply the natural resorption that occurs when a tooth has been missing for an extended period.
Here’s what happens biologically. When a tooth is removed, the alveolar bone that once surrounded and supported it begins to resorb. The body essentially recognizes that the bone is no longer serving a functional purpose and starts breaking it down. Studies show that up to 50 percent of the ridge width can be lost within the first year after extraction, with the most rapid changes occurring in the first three months. This is why we often recommend a socket preservation graft at the time of extraction, especially when a dental implant is planned for the future.
Socket preservation involves placing graft material into the extraction site immediately after the tooth is removed. The graft material acts as a scaffold, encouraging the body’s own bone cells (osteoblasts) to migrate into the area and generate new bone. We then cover the graft with a resorbable membrane that acts as a barrier, preventing the faster-growing soft tissue from collapsing into the socket before bone has a chance to fill in. This technique, called guided bone regeneration, significantly improves the quantity and quality of bone available for future implant placement.
Several types of graft material are used in dentistry. Autogenous bone, harvested from the patient’s own body, is considered the gold standard because it contains living cells, growth factors, and a natural scaffold all in one. However, it requires a second surgical site. Allograft material, sourced from carefully screened and processed human donor tissue, is widely used and well-documented. Xenograft material, typically derived from bovine bone, provides an excellent scaffold that resorbs slowly, maintaining volume over time. Synthetic options like calcium phosphate ceramics are also available. We select the appropriate material based on the specific clinical situation, the size of the defect, and the planned restorative outcome.
Larger defects, like those resulting from years of bone loss or trauma, may require block grafting or ridge augmentation procedures. These are more involved surgeries where a solid piece of bone is secured to the deficient area with small titanium screws and allowed to integrate over four to six months before implant placement. It takes patience, but the results allow patients who were previously told they “don’t have enough bone for implants” to become candidates for permanent tooth replacement.
Bone grafting recovery is generally well-tolerated. Some swelling and mild discomfort are expected for the first few days. We ask patients to avoid disturbing the surgical site, stick to soft foods, and refrain from smoking, which significantly impairs bone healing by reducing blood supply to the graft. If you’ve been told you need a bone graft, or if you had teeth extracted years ago and are now considering implants, call our Brentwood office. We’ll assess your bone levels and put together a plan that makes sense for your goals.
Sinus Lift
A sinus lift, also called a sinus augmentation or sinus floor elevation, is a surgical procedure that adds bone to the upper jaw in the area of the premolars and molars. It’s needed when there isn’t enough bone height in the posterior maxilla to support a dental implant, and the maxillary sinus is too close to the jaw for safe implant placement.
Why does this happen? The maxillary sinuses are air-filled spaces that sit just above your upper back teeth. When those teeth are lost, two things work against you. First, the alveolar bone resorbs from below, just like it does anywhere else in the jaw after tooth loss. Second, the sinus can pneumatize, meaning it expands downward into the space where bone used to be. The combination of bone loss from below and sinus expansion from above can leave a very thin floor of bone, sometimes only one or two millimeters, between the sinus cavity and the crest of the ridge. That’s not enough to stabilize an implant, which typically needs at least 10 millimeters of bone height for a standard fixture.
During a sinus lift, we create a small window in the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus. The sinus membrane, called the Schneiderian membrane, is then carefully elevated from the bony floor of the sinus. This is the most delicate part of the procedure because the membrane is thin (typically 0.3 to 0.8 millimeters) and must remain intact. A perforation can usually be managed with a collagen membrane repair, but keeping it intact from the start is always the goal. Once elevated, the space created between the membrane and the bony floor is packed with graft material. The window is then covered with a membrane, and the site is sutured closed.
Healing time for a sinus lift is typically six to nine months before the grafted bone is mature enough to receive an implant. In cases where there is adequate existing bone to achieve primary stability (usually at least four to five millimeters of native bone height), we can sometimes place the implant simultaneously with the sinus lift, reducing the total treatment timeline. This decision is made on a case-by-case basis.
Post-operative instructions for sinus lifts include some specifics that differ from other oral surgery procedures. We ask patients to avoid blowing their nose forcefully for at least two weeks, to sneeze with their mouth open, and to avoid using straws or creating any negative pressure in the mouth. These precautions protect the healing membrane and graft. Mild congestion and a small amount of blood-tinged nasal discharge are normal for the first few days.
If you’ve been told you need a sinus lift before implant placement, we want you to know that this is a well-established procedure with high success rates. We perform it regularly at our Brentwood office and would be happy to walk you through the details during a consultation.
Apicoectomy
An apicoectomy, also known as a root end resection, is a microsurgical procedure performed when a standard root canal treatment has failed or when retreatment through the crown of the tooth isn’t feasible. It’s essentially a way to save a tooth that might otherwise need to be extracted.
To understand why an apicoectomy becomes necessary, it helps to understand what happens during a root canal. The procedure removes infected pulp tissue from inside the tooth and seals the canal system with a filling material, usually gutta percha. In the vast majority of cases, this resolves the infection and the tooth heals normally. But sometimes, despite technically adequate treatment, infection persists at the apex (tip) of the root. This can happen because of complex root canal anatomy, including lateral canals, apical ramifications, or isthmuses between canals, that standard instrumentation and irrigation can’t fully reach. It can also occur when the original root canal filling doesn’t achieve a complete seal, allowing bacteria to persist in the periapical tissues.
During an apicoectomy, we make a small incision in the gum tissue near the affected tooth and reflect a flap to expose the underlying bone. A small window is created in the bone to access the root tip. We then resect (cut away) the last three to four millimeters of the root, which is the portion most likely to harbor complex anatomy and residual infection. The resected root surface is examined under magnification, and a small retrograde filling, typically made of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) or a biocompatible cement, is placed into the prepared root end to seal it. The flap is then repositioned and sutured.
Magnification and illumination are critical for this procedure. We use surgical loupes or a microscope to visualize the fine details of the root end anatomy. Studies have shown that the success rate of apicoectomies performed with microsurgical techniques and modern materials exceeds 90 percent, a significant improvement over older methods that relied on larger resections and less precise filling materials.
Recovery from an apicoectomy is usually quite manageable. Swelling and bruising around the surgical site are common for the first two to three days. Most patients manage discomfort with over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication. We schedule a follow-up to check healing and may take periodic X-rays over the following months to confirm that the bone around the root tip is regenerating, which appears as a gradual filling in of the radiolucency (dark area) that was present before surgery.
An apicoectomy is often the last line of defense before extraction. If you have a tooth that’s had a root canal but continues to cause symptoms, or if an X-ray shows a persistent infection at the root tip, this procedure may be the right option. We’d rather help you keep your natural tooth when it’s possible to do so. Contact our Brentwood office to schedule an evaluation and find out if an apicoectomy is appropriate for your situation.
A Local Oral Surgeon Brentwood Patients Rely On
Being an oral surgeon in Brentwood isn’t just about surgery. It’s about knowing the community. We treat students, working parents, retirees, and long-time residents. We see the same families year after year.
If you’re dealing with pain, swelling, or told you need oral surgery, don’t wait. Oral Surgeon Services in Brentwood are easier when you have clear answers and local care you can trust. Whether it’s tooth extractions, wisdom tooth removal, bone grafting, or an apicoectomy, help is close to home.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What does an oral surgeon in Brentwood, CA actually do?
An oral surgeon handles procedures that go beyond general dentistry, like wisdom tooth removal, dental implants, jaw surgery, and treating oral infections. If your general dentist refers you out, it usually means the procedure needs surgical skill and specialized training. Think of us as the next step when routine dental care isn’t enough to solve the problem.
Do I need a referral to see an oral surgeon in Brentwood?
You do not always need a referral to see an oral surgeon. Many patients call directly after a recommendation from their dentist. Others come in after a dental exam reveals something like an impacted wisdom tooth or bone loss that needs surgical attention. Either way, you can contact our Brentwood office directly to schedule a consultation.
What should I expect at my first oral surgery consultation?
Your first visit is mostly an evaluation. We review your X-rays, examine the area of concern, and talk through your options. Nothing is done without your understanding and agreement. Most consultations take under an hour. You leave with a clear picture of what the procedure involves, how recovery works, and what happens next.
Is the heat in Brentwood hard on teeth before oral surgery?
Brentwood summers push into the high 90s, and people reach for sports drinks and sweetened beverages all day. That sugar and acid speeds up plaque buildup and can complicate surgical outcomes. We often recommend a cleaning before surgery to lower infection risk. Healthier gums and cleaner teeth make recovery smoother and reduce post-surgical complications.
Do you see patients from newer Brentwood neighborhoods like Deer Ridge or Shadow Lakes?
Yes, we see patients from all across Brentwood, including newer developments near Deer Ridge, Shadow Lakes, and Summerset. A lot of new residents come in after moving here and realizing they need to establish care. Whether you need a surgical consultation or a referral worked up, our Brentwood office is set up to help you get started.
How do I know if I need oral surgery or just a regular dental procedure?
Your general dentist usually makes that call during an exam. Signs that point toward oral surgery include impacted teeth, significant bone loss, jaw pain tied to structural problems, or infections that haven’t responded to other treatment. If you are unsure, a consultation with an oral surgeon gives you a direct answer without committing you to anything.