Perfecting facial appearances

Dr. Robert Ellis (left) and his associate Dr. Sandeep Pathak along with Dr. Jess Gardner, III make up Oral and Facial Surgery Associates. Photo by Jessica Turner

By Jessica Turner
Jessica@gwinnettcitizen.com

LAWRENCEVILLE- Most of us have had some encounter with an oral surgeon. Whether we were having our wisdom teeth removed or having a broken tooth replaced, we went in, maybe had a follow-up or two and were gone, never to see them again.
But the world of oral and maxillofacial surgery has evolved tremendously in recent years, and these doctors are integral members of the medical community.
“When I began my practice 28 years ago, I was the third oral surgeon in the county,” Dr. Robert Ellis of Oral and Facial Surgery Associates in Lawrenceville said. “Basically, we attend to both functional and cosmetic changes to the face and jaw bone.”
On any given week, Dr. Ellis and his associates, Jess Gardner, III, D.M.D, M.D. and Sandeep Pathak, D.M.D., M.D., will perform a variety of procedures.
“We will see patients for simple wisdom teeth removal or other impacted teeth, dental implants and bone or tissue grafting in conjunction with facial cosmetic procedures,” Dr. Ellis said. Because of the extensive amount of time the surgeons are in the operating room, today’s oral and maxillofacial graduates receive dual degrees in dentistry and as a medical doctor. “We are on staff at Gwinnett Medical Center and are on-call in the emergency room for trauma calls.”
Being a level two trauma center Gwinnett Medical Center receives patients who have suffered any number of injuries and most often the physicians of Oral and Facial Surgery Associates will be called upon to evaluate patients who have received injuries to their face from car accident, severe sports injuries, even dog bites to the face.
“We do see a number of sports injuries and have performed a lot of work for members of the Atlanta Falcons and Thrashers,” Dr. Ellis said. “A lot of facial fractures around the eyes, nose and jaw from pucks, golf and racquet balls, a very broad scope.”
Though emergency and trauma situations often bring the surgeons into the operating rooms of Gwinnett Medical Center, for the most part their scheduled procedures are performed in their outpatient surgery center in the office.
“We are extensively trained in and administer our own anesthesia,” Dr. Ellis said. “We are able to have better control of the patient and their well-being.”
“The practice of anesthesia was actually developed by a dentist, Dr. Horace Wells,” Dr. Sandeep Pathak, the newest member of the team, said.
Because their procedures often involve the referral or consultation of doctors of other specialties, Dr. Ellis and his team are in constant communication with their fellow physicians.
“We will often have a patient referred by their family dentist or orthodontist for any number of procedures,” Dr. Ellis said. “For many of our maxillofacial procedures we may work alongside an ear, nose and throat doctor, or for the removal of cancerous tumors in the mouth, we work with the patient’s pathology team.”
For many of the surgical procedures that the doctors perform, there is a multi-step process involved. For instance, when an individual has lost a tooth from say an accident of the football field, the doctors will first have to stabilize the affected area and evaluate whether or not the original tooth and root can be salvaged. If not, it is common to repair the soft tissue and prepare for a future dental implant. A temporary fixture is placed, and then once the tissue has healed, the permanent implant is placed. Though the implant may be an intimidating procedure on first glance, it will offer a much more stable and permanent fix in the long run, compared to a crown or bridge procedure.
Dr. Ellis and his team also handle a number of developmental disorders including cleft pallet corrections. Those procedures will most often involve the grafting of bone and tissue, then permanent dental implants. Orthognathic surgery is needed when jaws do not meet correctly. Teeth are straightened through orthodontics and the jaws are surgically repositioned to correct alignment. The difference this surgery can make in a patient in incredible, as illustrated in the photo of the young woman to the left/right. Her jaw was severely out of alignment and her chin was not appropriately developed. With realignment and a chin implant, the young woman was barely recognized by colleagues following the procedure.
In addition to attending to developmental disorders, more cosmetic procedures are being performed every year.
“We are now performing Botox as well as lip injections in our office,” Dr. Ellis said.
All three of the doctors at Oral and Facial Surgery Associates are members of the American Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Drs. Ellis and Gardner are both Board Certified and Dr. Pathak is Board Eligible and will take his Boards in the winter.
With the ever-growing area in which they are located, Oral and Facial Surgery Associates have recently opened a second location in Buford just off Highway 20. The new office offers patients in northern Gwinnett County easier access to the physicians.
For more information about Oral and Facial Surgery Associates, visit them online at www.atl-ofs.com or call 770-962-9515.