Dr. Hall,
If I want to do bone grafting to prepare for implants, do I need an oral surgeon? The dentist who I am seeing says that he has done bone grafting for 3 years, but he isn’t an an oral surgeon.
– Philip from New York
(See Dr. Hall’s answer below.)
We thank our advertisers who help fund this site.
Philip,
There are general dentists who do a fair amount of oral surgery and do a fairly good job of it. If your dentist has been doing bone grafting for three years, he probably does a pretty good job of it. In my interviewing of dentists, I have encountered a number of general dentists who do fairly sophisticated surgical procedures, such as sinus lifts and extracting impacted teeth.
What I would look for in a dentist who is doing dental implants work is credentials in implant dentistry. There are several continuing education institutions that provide excellent training in these surgical procedures. Here is a partial list:
- International Congress of Oral Implantologists
- Misch Implant Institute
- American Academy of Implant Dentistry
- Engel Institute
There are others. I would look for some advanced credentials from someone doing sophisticated implant work, but it doesn’t need to be a licensed oral surgeon.
Do you have a comment or anything else to add? We’d love to hear from you. Enter your comment below. Or click here to ask Dr. Hall a question.
About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
Interesting! I didn’t realize general dentists could get that kind of advanced training. Learned something new today!