Oral surgery — Sterling, Virginia
Oral surgery, planned around what comes next
Most oral surgery here is an extraction, and the question that matters is rarely whether the tooth can come out. It is what happens to the space afterwards.
3D scan first
Bone read before anything is removed
One surgeon
Plans, places and restores the same case
Same visit
Grafting at extraction when it is indicated
What actually happens to the socket
A tooth root does a job people rarely think about: it loads the bone every time you chew, and bone keeps only what it uses. Take the root away and that stimulus stops, so the body reclaims bone it no longer needs.
The ridge then narrows, and it narrows fastest in the first few months after the tooth comes out. Most of the width goes in the first year. That is ordinary biology rather than anything going wrong, and it happens whether or not the extraction was difficult.
The problem is that an implant needs bone to sit in. A ridge left empty for two years may no longer have the width to hold one. That turns a straightforward placement into a graft, a wait, and a second surgery.
Scan first, then decide
Why the plan is made before the tooth comes out
This is the reason we scan first. A cone beam scan shows the bone in three dimensions, so we see what is there before anything is removed rather than afterwards.
When the plan is to replace the tooth, we often place a graft into the socket at the same visit. Preserving the ridge while it is still intact is a smaller procedure than rebuilding it later. It also keeps your options open if you decide to wait a year before the implant.
Dr. Tarek plans, places and restores implants himself, so the extraction and the replacement are designed as one case rather than handed between two offices.
What we take out here
We handle straightforward and surgical extractions, wisdom teeth included, plus bone grafting, ridge preservation and sinus lifts. Those last four are the procedures that make an implant possible where bone has already been lost.
His residency was built around oral surgery, eight of twelve months of it, and he later taught the subject at Cairo University. He is also an ICOI Fellow, which is an implant credential rather than a surgical one.
Where our scope ends, and comfort
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a separate specialty. Corrective jaw surgery and complex cases belong there, and we say so early rather than stretch a case past what this office should do.
We talk through comfort options before any surgical appointment, and you will know what the visit involves before you sit down. Tell us when you book if you are anxious, and we will slow the pace.
Questions before surgery
Where to start
Book a consult and we will scan before we decide
Bring any referral, scan or treatment plan you already have with you. We will look, scan if we need to, and tell you what the options are and what each one costs before anything is scheduled.