Dr. Marlice Patam has over 27 years of dental experience. She received her doctorate degrees from UCLA School of Dentistry in 1995 and UCLA School of Medicine in 2001. Dr. Patam focused her studies on oral surgery. At UCLA, her training included orthognathic jaw reconstruction, reconstruction of facial trauma, alveolar bone reconstruction, dental and maxillofacial implantology, oral pathology, and sedation and general anesthesia.
Dr. Patam is a board certified oral surgeon, a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. She maintains hospital admitting privileges at UCLA Medical Center where she also teaches in the operating room. Dr. Patam is a highly trained specialist who provides our patients with her expertise in oral surgery, general anesthesia and certification in advanced cardiac life support.
Dr. Patam is a member of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the California Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and is a Diplomate with the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
In her free time, Dr. Patam enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, biking and rollerblading.
Oral surgery is any surgery that is performed by an oral surgeon in your mouth and/or jaw. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are highly trained and specialized dentists. Upon completion of their four years at dental school, they participate in a hospital-based residency program for an additional four years. During said training, they apprentice among other medical residents and are trained in all areas of general surgery, emergency medical techniques, and anesthesiology. Post-graduation, some oral surgeons work in hospitals but most work in regular practices.
Oral surgeons are experts in the treatment of issues related to the hard and soft tissues of the face, mouth and jaw. Although many general dentists have the ability to perform more simple procedures, like an extraction, surgeons are generally needed for more complex procedures.
Let’s take a look at some of the more complex procedures that an oral surgeon might handle.
As previously stated, most dental extractions can be performed by a general dentist, however, an oral surgeon is usually called when a tooth is impacted. This is usually seen with wisdom teeth. When teeth are impacted, they are in a position where they can’t grow naturally. This is a common and relatively simple operation. If your wisdom teeth are impacted, the oral surgeon will provide you with sedation and then remove the impacted teeth. Untreated impacted wisdom teeth can result in swelling, pain and infection and sometimes they can even cause permanent damage to the jaw.
Generally speaking, an orthodontist is a specialist when it comes to bite/jaw realignment. However, some cases cannot be corrected with the use of braces or other orthodontic tools. In these more severe cases, an oral surgeon may be needed.
These types of cases are usually caused by birth defects, skeletal disorders or major injury. Additionally, oral surgeons are able to perform cleft lip and palate surgery.
Furthermore, an oral surgeon can deal with many types of skin lacerations and fix jaw and facial bone fractures. They can even treat nerves, oral tissues, nasal bones, eye sockets and the forehead. Oral surgeons can remove cysts and tumors and work with medical teams to treat oral, head and neck cancers or severe infections.
Oral surgeons can perform bone grafting and jaw reconstruction to lay the groundwork for implant or all on four procedures. They are also experts in the surgical placement of dental implants.
Oral surgeons are also integral in treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Once you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, your dental and medical team will try a few different treatment options. If behavior modification or other appliances don’t work, your team may find that oral surgery is a viable and good option of treatment. Oral surgeons have a few choices of sleep apnea surgical procedures. They will help by opening up the airways to help you breathe better.
In the area of anesthetics, oral surgeons are one of the only medical professionals that can administer all levels of sedatives. This includes intravenous (IV) sedation and general anesthesia.
At Bellflower Dental Group, we are proud to have an expert oral surgeon on staff. No matter what your dental needs are, we can meet them in house. If you think that you may be suffering from an issue that requires oral surgery, be sure to call us today. Our entire dental team will work together to come up with a comprehensive dental treatment plan to get your dental health back on track!
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