Missing teeth affect more than just your smile—they can impact your ability to eat, speak, and maintain the health of your remaining teeth and jawbone. Dental implants offer a permanent solution that looks, feels, and functions like your natural teeth. At The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas, Dr. Letelier specializes in implant placement for patients throughout the Las Vegas Valley, including those with severe bone loss who may have been told they aren’t candidates elsewhere.

Dental implants consist of small, biocompatible titanium posts that are surgically placed into the jawbone where teeth are missing. Through a natural process called osseointegration, the bone fuses with the titanium, creating a stable foundation that can last a lifetime. Once healed, a custom crown, bridge, or denture is attached to complete your restoration.

Our implant services include single tooth replacement for individual missing teeth, implant-supported bridges for multiple adjacent missing teeth, implant-supported dentures for enhanced stability and comfort, and All-on-4 (Teeth in a Day) full-arch restoration. The benefits of choosing dental implants extend beyond aesthetics: they preserve jawbone density by stimulating natural bone regeneration, they don’t require alteration of adjacent healthy teeth like traditional bridges, and they allow you to eat your favorite foods with confidence. Dr. Letelier offers complimentary consultations including CT scans to determine if dental implants are right for you.

For patients who are missing all their teeth or facing full-mouth extraction, All-on-4 dental implants provide a life-changing solution—often completed in a single visit. This innovative procedure allows Dr. Letelier to place a complete set of fixed replacement teeth on just four strategically positioned implants, eliminating the long wait times associated with traditional implant approaches.

The All-on-4 technique works by angling the rear implants to maximize contact with available bone, which often eliminates the need for bone grafting procedures. During your appointment, Dr. Letelier removes any remaining damaged teeth, places the four titanium implants, and attaches a temporary fixed prosthesis—all in the same day. You’ll leave our Las Vegas office with a beautiful, functional smile.

As your mouth heals over the following months, adjustments are made to ensure optimal fit and comfort. Once healing is complete, your final permanent prosthesis is placed. All-on-4 implants offer exceptional strength and durability, improved oral health without the bone loss associated with traditional dentures, permanent teeth that never need to be removed for cleaning, and the ability to eat, speak, and smile with complete confidence. Dr. Letelier is highly regarded throughout Nevada for his expertise with full-arch restorations, particularly for patients with complex cases involving significant bone loss.

Dr. Carlos Letelier has become Nevada’s preferred wisdom tooth extractor, with decades of experience helping teens and adults eliminate the pain, infection risk, and dental complications caused by problematic third molars. Whether your wisdom teeth are impacted, partially erupted, or causing crowding, our Las Vegas oral surgery team provides safe, comfortable extraction with minimal downtime.

Wisdom teeth are the last permanent teeth to emerge, typically appearing in the late teens to early twenties. Because they arrive after your other teeth are already in place, there’s often insufficient room to accommodate them. When wisdom teeth lack space to erupt properly, they can grow at awkward angles, become trapped in the jawbone, damage adjacent teeth, or create hard-to-clean areas where bacteria thrive.

Common signs that your wisdom teeth may need removal include pain or tenderness in the back of the mouth, swelling or infection around the gums, difficulty opening your jaw fully, chronic bad breath despite good oral hygiene, and cysts or tumors forming around impacted teeth. At The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas, we offer general anesthesia for maximum comfort during your procedure. Most patients recover within one to two weeks, and our team provides detailed aftercare instructions to ensure smooth healing. Even if you’re not experiencing symptoms, we recommend evaluation—symptom-free wisdom teeth can still harbor bacteria and create cleaning challenges that lead to decay and gum disease.

Sometimes a tooth is too damaged, decayed, or diseased to save, and extraction becomes necessary to protect your overall oral health. Dr. Letelier and the team at The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas make the extraction process as comfortable and stress-free as possible, using advanced imaging technology and anesthesia options to ensure your safety and comfort throughout the procedure.

Tooth extraction may be recommended when severe decay has destroyed too much tooth structure for restoration, advanced periodontal disease has compromised the tooth’s supporting structures, trauma has fractured the tooth beyond repair, infection has reached the pulp and cannot be resolved with root canal therapy, or crowding requires removal to prepare for orthodontic treatment.

Before any extraction, Dr. Letelier takes detailed X-rays or performs an in-office CT scan to visualize the tooth, roots, and surrounding structures. This allows him to plan the safest, most efficient approach for your specific situation. Our patients benefit from general anesthesia options that eliminate anxiety and discomfort, advanced surgical techniques that minimize trauma to surrounding tissue, comprehensive post-operative care instructions, and prescribed pain management and antibiotics when appropriate. The mouth heals remarkably quickly—most patients report minimal pain after just one week. If you’re facing tooth extraction, we encourage you to schedule a consultation to discuss your options, including tooth replacement with dental implants.

Healthy jawbone is essential for successful dental implant placement and overall oral function. When bone loss occurs—whether from missing teeth, periodontal disease, trauma, or developmental factors—bone grafting can restore the foundation needed for implants and other restorative procedures. Dr. Letelier is highly regarded throughout Las Vegas for his expertise in treating patients with severe bone loss.

Bone grafting is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that transplants healthy bone tissue to areas of deficiency in your jaw. The grafted material stimulates your body’s natural regenerative processes, encouraging new bone growth that integrates with your existing jawbone over time. Most patients complete the procedure on an outpatient basis and heal within four to six months.

The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas offers several bone grafting techniques tailored to your specific needs. Socket preservation grafts are performed immediately after tooth extraction to prevent bone atrophy before it begins. Lateral ridge augmentation grafts increase the width of the jawbone using donor bone material. Block bone grafts address larger defects using a small amount of bone harvested from elsewhere in your jaw. Sinus lift procedures create space for implants in the upper jaw by lifting the sinus membrane and placing bone graft material beneath it. The benefits of bone grafting include enabling dental implant placement for patients previously told they weren’t candidates, preserving facial structure and preventing the sunken appearance caused by bone loss, supporting remaining teeth and preventing further deterioration, and improving the fit and function of dentures and other prosthetics.

When a tooth forms beneath the gum line but fails to erupt on its own, it’s called an impacted or unerupted tooth. Left untreated, impacted teeth can damage adjacent teeth, gums, and supporting bone structures, and may lead to cyst formation or jaw dysfunction. At The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas, Dr. Letelier performs exposure surgery to guide these teeth into proper position, preserving your natural tooth whenever possible.

Teeth become impacted for several reasons: the eruption path may be blocked by another tooth due to dental crowding, a baby tooth may not have fallen out in time, or there may simply be insufficient space in the jaw. While wisdom teeth are the most commonly impacted, the upper canines (eyeteeth) are the second most frequent—and because canines play a critical role in your bite, saving them through exposure surgery is often preferable to extraction.

During the exposure procedure, Dr. Letelier makes a small incision in the gum tissue to uncover the impacted tooth. An orthodontic bracket with a small gold chain is then bonded to the tooth surface. Working in coordination with your orthodontist, this chain is gradually used to guide the tooth into its proper position in the dental arch. The process typically takes nine to twelve months, though timing varies based on how deeply the tooth is buried and whether space needs to be created with braces. Our team offers both local and general anesthesia options—for deeply buried teeth, general anesthesia is often recommended for maximum comfort.

Oral cancer is a serious health concern, but early detection dramatically improves treatment outcomes. At The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas, we provide comprehensive oral cancer screening services to identify potentially problematic areas before they develop into more serious conditions. If suspicious tissue is found, Dr. Letelier can perform surgical biopsies and coordinate with your oncology team for integrated treatment.

During an oral cancer screening, Dr. Letelier performs a thorough visual examination of your mouth, tongue, throat, and surrounding tissues. We also utilize advanced digital imaging to detect abnormalities that may not be visible to the naked eye. Risk factors for oral cancer include tobacco use in any form, heavy alcohol consumption, HPV infection, prolonged sun exposure to the lips, and a family history of cancer.

Warning signs that should prompt immediate evaluation include persistent mouth sores that don’t heal within two weeks, unexplained bleeding in the mouth, white or red patches on the gums, tongue, or mouth lining, lumps or thickening of the cheek tissue, chronic sore throat or hoarseness, difficulty chewing or swallowing, and numbness in the tongue or other areas of the mouth. If a biopsy reveals oral cancer, our experienced oral and maxillofacial surgeon can work with your treatment team to coordinate tumor removal with other forms of cancer therapy. We believe in open, honest communication—we’ll help you understand your situation and all available treatment options.

Receding gums expose the roots of your teeth, causing sensitivity to hot and cold, increasing your risk of decay, and creating an uneven “toothy” smile. At The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas, Dr. Letelier performs gum grafting surgery to cover exposed roots, restore healthy gum tissue, and protect your teeth from further damage.

Gum recession can result from periodontal disease, aggressive tooth brushing, trauma, or genetic factors that predispose certain patients to tissue loss. Once the root surface is exposed, it becomes vulnerable to decay (roots aren’t protected by enamel), and sensitivity can make eating and drinking uncomfortable. Gum grafting addresses these concerns by transplanting healthy tissue to cover the exposed area.

Dr. Letelier offers multiple grafting techniques based on your specific needs. Free gingival grafts use tissue from the palate to thicken thin gum tissue. Connective tissue grafts take tissue from beneath the palate surface for root coverage. Pedicle grafts rotate adjacent gum tissue to cover the exposed root. The benefits of gum grafting include permanent coverage of exposed roots, eliminating sensitivity, reduced risk of root decay and further gum recession, improved smile aesthetics with a more even gum line, and halted progression of periodontal tissue loss. Most gum grafting procedures are performed under local anesthesia, allowing you to remain comfortable throughout. Before grafting, we ensure your teeth are thoroughly cleaned and provide guidance on home care techniques to protect your results long-term.

Your comfort and safety are Dr. Letelier’s top priorities. The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas offers general anesthesia for patients undergoing extensive procedures, younger patients, and anyone with dental anxiety or phobia. As Nevada’s first JCAHO-accredited oral surgery practice, we maintain the highest standards for anesthesia administration and patient monitoring.

General anesthesia produces a state of controlled unconsciousness—you won’t feel pain, won’t be aware of the procedure, and will have no memory of the surgery afterward. This differs from local anesthesia, which only numbs a specific area while you remain awake. General anesthesia is administered intravenously by our extensively trained team, and your vital signs are continuously monitored throughout your procedure.

General anesthesia may be recommended for wisdom teeth removal, especially when multiple teeth are extracted, dental implant placement and bone grafting procedures, impacted tooth exposure surgery, treatment of younger patients who may have difficulty remaining still, and patients with severe dental anxiety or gag reflex sensitivity. Our state-of-the-art facility includes advanced monitoring equipment and safety protocols that meet the same standards as hospital operating rooms. Before your procedure, we’ll provide detailed pre-operative instructions including fasting requirements. Afterward, you’ll need a responsible adult to drive you home, and we recommend resting for the remainder of the day.

Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of successful oral surgery. At The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas, Dr. Letelier utilizes Cone Beam CT (CBCT) scan technology to obtain detailed three-dimensional images of your teeth, jawbone, nerves, and surrounding structures—all with significantly less radiation than traditional CT scans.

Unlike standard dental X-rays that provide only two-dimensional images, Cone Beam CT creates a comprehensive 3D view that allows Dr. Letelier to visualize your anatomy from every angle. The scan takes less than 40 seconds and captures detailed images of soft tissue, bone, blood vessels, and nerve pathways. This technology enables more precise treatment planning and reduces the risk of complications during surgery.

Cone Beam CT imaging improves diagnosis and treatment planning for dental implant placement by mapping exact bone density and volume, wisdom teeth removal by locating nerve pathways to avoid damage, impacted tooth surgery by visualizing the tooth’s position relative to other structures, bone grafting procedures by assessing the extent of bone loss, and pathology evaluation by detecting cysts, tumors, or infections. Our panoramic digital X-ray system uses 70 percent less radiation than previous models—in fact, a one-way flight from Las Vegas to New York exposes you to more radiation than our imaging equipment. When you choose The Center for Oral Surgery of Las Vegas, you benefit from the most advanced diagnostic technology available.