Missing teeth can affect your smile and self confidence. In many situations dental implants are the most pleasingly esthetic solution for replacing missing teeth. An all-ceramic dental crown or dental bridge, secured to a dental implant, provides a complete and beautiful solution for improving your smile. A dental implant takes the place of the missing tooth's root and helps prevent shrinking of the jawbone. Dental implants also prevent adjacent teeth changing position to fill the gap.

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TMJ is short for "temporomandibular joint". It attaches your lower jaw (mandible) to the base of your skull on each side of your head. The TMJ acts as a hinge. It allows your mouth to open and close and move from side to side when chewing. The muscles surrounding and attached to the TMJ control its position and control jaw movements during talking, chewing and yawning.

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An apicectomy is an operation where the very end of the root tip is removed.  It is usually undertaken when a root filling has failed to satisfactorily seal the root canal.  When this occurs, an abscess can form.  This may lie dormant for many years and then suddenly flare up resulting in an acute abscess.

To perform an apicectomy, a flap of the gum tissue must be reflected back.  Bone overlying the tooth root is then removed to expose the root.  The area around the end of the root is cleansed.  The very end of the root tip is excised and a small cavity prepared in the root surface.  This is then filled with a satisfactory root filling material.  The gum is then stitched back into place with dissolving stitches.

Most salivary gland problems are caused blockage with a salivary stone in the duct or by infection.  These can usually be detected and removed.  Occasionally however, the submandibular gland has to be removed in which case an incision is made just below the jaw bone and the submandibular gland removed.