An operculectomy is a minor surgical procedure to remove excess of the affected soft tissue/the flap of gum tissue (operculum) covering a partially erupted tooth, which in most cases is a wisdom tooth. This prevents further build-up of debris, food trapping  and plaque with the subsequent inflammation which is called Pericoronitis. There is a possibility that the operculum could regrow and become infected again. This would necessitate another treatment session or the extraction of the tooth.

It is a dental procedure that is done in certain situations as an alternative to having a wisdom tooth extraction. A coronectomy can be done when a dentist feels there's an increased risk of injury to the inferior dental nerve (usually a CT Scan is required to locate the inferior dental nerve first). The method consists in removing the crown of a tooth but leaving the roots untouched, which may be intimately related with the inferior alveolar nerve, so that the possibility of nerve injury is reduced. Sometimes the remaining root might over erupt in the future, being far away from the nerve which will facilitate the extraction of such with less or non-risk of nerve injury.

An apicoectomy is the removal of the tip of the root of the tooth, known as the apex. This minor surgical operation, usually carried out under a local anaesthetic, is performed if infection or cysts persist after root canal treatment or if your dentist is unable to seal the root tip with a normal root filling. The surgeon will numb the tooth and the surrounding area. A flap of gum is lifted and the tip of the root and a small amount of surrounding bone and infected tissue are removed. The area is cleaned and disinfected. The tip of the root is cut back by a few millimetres. Sometimes a small filling is placed in the root to seal the end of the tip. The gum is stitched back into place using dissolvable stitches.

This procedure involves the careful scalloping reduction of the bone around the collars of the teeth, the repositioning of the gum tissue and the fabrication of prosthesis when needed. This procedure can be performed for aesthetic reasons (to enlarge the appearance of the tooth’s crowns or to correct uneven margins or gummy smiles) or for restorative reasons, performed to access a deep cavity when a tooth is badly decayed under the gum line and, therefore, without this surgery, the filling and seal of such cavity would not be possible which will lead to tooth loss.

A gingivectomy procedure may be prescribed for different reasons but often they are indicated for the hyperplastic growth of gums caused by the gum disease and infection.

When the gum condition of the patient is more severe and ordinary scaling and cleaning procedures can no longer address the problem, a more comprehensive gum surgery procedure may be indicated. This will involve the incision of gum tissue so that the roots and the deeper areas of the bone may be accessed (pocket reduction surgery), and it can include grafting of bone (regenerative or reconstructive surgery) and soft tissue. Root coverage is also a gum surgery where soft tissue graft is harvested to cover exposed roots for sensitivity reasons or cosmetic reasons.

Socket preservation is a procedure that reduces bone and soft tissue loss after tooth extraction. It is performed immediately after tooth extraction. After having a tooth extracted, there will be an empty “socket” where the tooth used to be. If the socket is not kept stimulated, the bone that used to support the tooth starts to resorb and becomes thin and shallow. This can cause a problem when we look at possible treatment options to replace the gap with a partial denture, bridge or dental implant. Tooth extraction socket preservation is the act of minimising bone shrinkage, and therefore preserving the bone’s depth and height to allow for a better outcome for a future denture, bridge or implant.

When the frenum is too low or much too high, it is severed from its attachment and strategically reattached. Frenectomies can be an important part of orthodontic treatment when a long or short frenum is causing tooth or jaw displacement. When treating a patient with a gap between their front teeth, an orthodontist may recommend a maxillary frenectomy after braces to prevent the teeth from spreading apart after treatment. High insertion of the frenum can also cause gum recession and in those cases frenectomy might be needed to stop the problem from getting worse.