Oral surgery — assistance in surgical procedures in the mouth

Some treatments cannot be managed with just a filling or root treatment – they require a surgical procedure in the mouth. The field of oral surgery is one of the theoretical and practical core subjects in the education's main course, and assistance with surgical procedures is among the tasks you should be able to manage independently over time.

• 01Tooth extraction — the most common form of oral surgery.
• 02Root tip operation — removal of inflamed tissue and root tip when root treatment alone is not enough.
• 03Cyst surgery — removal of a fluid-filled cavity in the jaw.
• 04Incision of abscess — an incision that drains a boil and relieves pressure and pain.
• 05Insertion of implants — an artificial 'root' is placed in the jawbone as the basis for a tooth replacement.
• 06Periodontal surgical procedures — surgical treatment of advanced periodontitis.
• 07Biopsy — extraction of a small tissue sample for further examination.

Good preparation is about knowing the patient, not just the tooth. Is the patient a risk patient — for example due to blood-thinning medication, heart disease or impaired immunity — it requires extra attention and often special precautions. Pre-operative records such as X-rays give the dentist an overview of roots, bone and any nearby structures before the cut is made. The assistant prepares the room for a sterile operative field, checks that the correct instruments and materials are packed and sterile, and ensures that any pre-operative medication (such as antibiotics in selected patients) has been given as agreed.

During the actual operation the assistant's tasks are to keep the working field clear by suctioning handing instruments in the right order and keeping an eye on the patient's condition—is the patient pale sweating or uncomfortable? A calm attentive assistant is an important part of patient safety during surgical procedure because the dentist's focus is naturally directed at the actual surgical field.

Instruction and information of the patient before and after the operation is a separate goal in the regulations. The patient must understand what has happened, what is normal to experience (swelling, tenderness), when to react (heavy bleeding, fever, increasing pain), and how to care for the area the first few days – for example avoid rinsing strongly or smoking shortly after an extraction, as it increases the risk of a painful complication in the tooth socket.

A surgical procedure produces waste material: bloody compresses sharp objects and possibly tissue samples. Correct disposal of waste material is an explicit goal in the education because improper handling can expose staff and others to infection. Always follow the clinic's waste sorting and the applicable rules for hazardous waste from the health sector.