What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 3pm Tuesday 8am - 3pm Wednesday 8am - 3pm Thursday 8am - 3pm

http://www.stahroralsurgery.com/

Stahr Oral Surgery, 1030 Morgantown Avenue, Fairmont, WV (2026)

06/18/2025

A implant case several years after placement that still looks great.

I saw this patient four years after placing this implant (to examine a differnt tooth) & had the chance to reevaluate it.

The implant replaced a tooth that had been treated with a root canal. It had persistent infection + crown fracture.

Preop planning with implant planning software helped show where bone was needed to house the implant. Bone grafting was done at time of extraction. Once it healed an implant was placed with the final crown in mind.

You can see nice hygenic contours under the implant for adequate hygeine. This helps maintain healthy bone levels and support for the implant.

Slide 1: implant at present day, 4 years after it was placed
Slide 2: Bone levels when implant was placed vs today- nice and stable
Slide 3: 4 images showing the failing tooth, visualizing the future implant to determine where we needed bone, a healed site, and an implant placed where it had been planned.
Slide 4: Same image as slide 1 showing 2+ mm of bone over the facial of implant, something to strive for when grafting and placing implant.

Implant was guided into place with surgical precision.

A nice case on a happy patient! Something that is very satisfying to see years after this very nice lady came to see me for help.

06/18/2025

Anterior implants can be a challenge. The bone is naturally thinner on front teeth + the esthetic challenge. The facial bone over anteriors is naturally thin, averaging ~ 0.8mm thickness. The goal for implants is at least 2mm of facial bone width for long term stabilty and esthetics.  This case shows a front tooth that sustained trauma & was treated with a root canal. Despite best efforts to save it, infection persisted & the tooth needed removed.

A substantial amount of bone was lost due to infection. The tooth was removed, the infection was cleaned out, & the ridge was bulked up with a bone graft. After a healing period of a few months it should be ready for an implnat.

Planning the case with the final outcome in mind helps build a ridge of bone to have 2mm+ of bone on the front of the implant, all while still trying to get it in a nice position to help the crown be esthetic and natural.

Slide 1 shows before & immediately postop.
Slide 2 shows the preop image & one with a virtual implant where it should be to help estimate where a bone graft should be.
Slide 3: 4mm bone graft exists facial to planned implant. We know we are gonna lose some, but will likely have what I call ‘enough.’

A nice case that I think will heal well.

04/19/2025

Many strategies exist to make wisdom tooth surgery & recovery as easy as possible.

This post shows trying to time wisdsom tooth removal for a less invasive approach. Younger patient’s teeth are often undeveloped and more highly impacted. In this case I gave them more time lets them grow & erupt more into the mouth.

Taking out teeth that aren’t so deep can make for less invasive surgery & smoother recovery. Less cutting, smaller flaps, less trauma.

______

One of these I’ve started doing in the past few years is more focus toward timing them. There is an age window in which it’s best to take out wisdom teeth. I usually start looking at age 15, but often they’re not quite ready. If you wait too long the patient doesn’t heal as well. After age 25 years there is a 50% higher complication rate (we get old fast). Earlier is better, but also consider tooth development.  This is a good example of this approach. In this case I saw the patient 3-4 years ago. We decided to give the teeth more time to grow in. Top pano is Spring 2021. Lower pano is Spring 2025.

Over the past few years I’ve noticed much less swelling and pain with recovery. Much less cheek swelling than in the past. Most wisdom teeth cases now get by comfortably without needing postop hydrocodone. Trying to time them is one of the strategies for easier recovery.

04/08/2025

We're hiring!

Oral surgery office looking for friendly, energetic and responsible individual to join our team.

This is a small office with a good group of people with a team mentality.

Great hours, usually from 745 am to 2-4pm. Five days a week and usually out by 2 on Friday depending on the schedule. Hours worked per week range from mid 30’s-40.

Good patient care and customer service are key.

Experience helps but is not required. On the job training available.

Benefits include holiday pay, vacation time, 401k.

Please send a DM to inquire. Thank you.

02/06/2025

Two cases showing different ridge heights over a first molar.

Many first molars are removed due to dental disease. There is a sinus cavity above this tooth. It often is draped down between the roots. If an implant is placed to be axially loaded (force directed along implant’s long axis) it’s usually placed between the roots. This is often where the sinus is lowest on that tooth.

Some people hardly have any draping of the sinus between the roots, and some people have a significant amount. When the sinus is really low between the roots, it may not have enough bone to place an implant, and may need lifted with a bone graft to give a tall enough ridge to place an implant.

One case here has a whole lot of natural bone height & one has a very limited amount. I picked these because the size of the patients was completly opposite what I would have guessed the ridge heights to be.

The 1st case is a female barely 5’ tall. Yet the height of bone at this 1st molar was 1.5cm. I find it rare to see a ridge with this much height.

The 2nd case is a man over 6’ tall with a medium to large build. This molar site had ~8mm height-> almost one half the ridge height of the first example.
 Both cases were grafted at time of extraction. Both kept good width & both had the sinus drop down a little, which I commonly see.

Both had an implant placed after healing. The short ridge case had the sinus lifted some thru the drill hole. A 5.2 x 7.5mm implant was placed with good stabilty. Small sinus perf encountered, but achieved near full bony coverage of the implant. Able to get the a nice result in both cases.

Video in 4th slide shows nice placement of implants in short ridge case. Restorative-driven treatment planning placed them with the final crowns in mind based on the pt’s bite.

Lately on some cases I’ll raise the sinus when the tooth comes out to combat the sinus drop. Raising a sinus on a short ridge can sometimes be a challenge so sometimes I preemptively raise & build it from the start, to prevent the lost height. This idea is shown in the 2 previous posts.

01/31/2025

2 cases of an upper molar that needed removed with an implant planned to replace the lost tooth.

Case 1:
Sinus full of fluid/inflammation/disease, low sinus appx, ridge height ~6mm.

Options here were a very short 6mm implant or try to raise the sinus floor without disrupting the membrane or making sinus disease any worse. Classic lateral approach was not possible. As was indirect lift due to the risk ocasional perforation which I did not want to risk due to existing sinus disease.

Not shown in post but when 6mm virtual implant was placed, the distal aspect of apex was in the sinus. Considering that sometimes the sinus drops/pneumatizes after extraction, I went with a conservative option I felt would achieve a nice result.

Decision to very carefully go thru the roof of socket/sinus floor and very gently and conservatively raise it.

Preop vs immediate postop photo. Virtual implant is 4.8mm wide x 8mm tall. Should allow for nice 8mm tall molar implant once healed.

Case 2:
Another low sinus over a first molar. Ridge as low as 5mm tall. This site requires a sinus lift to increase ridge height for an implant.

Discussed traditional options with patient. Sinus lift with lateral approach vs indirect lift. Patient did not want the more invasive lateral approach. Indirect lift for me I can get 2-3mm but 5mm height gain may be pushing it.

After discussing options, patient chose to have sinus elevated through the extraciton site. It was gently raised after extraction and grafted. Plan to heal 4 months and then place implant in an ideal socket of bone. 5.2mm x 9mm planned.

Do you have questions about options for replacing a tooth? Give us a call! We do our best for you!

10/18/2024

The most common tooth I replace is a first molar. In the upper jaw, there is a sinus that often drapes down around the roots.

Maxillary first molars have splayed roots—> 2 outer roots and 1 palatal root. An implant is usually positioned between the roots where the sinus is low. This poses a challenge. The sinus often needs managed when placing an implant.

There needs to be enough bone to anchor the implant for long term stability. Short implants have decreased the need for some sinus lifts, but the sinus often needs managed when planning for an implant.

Common ways of managing the sinus are a lateral sinus lift or an indirect lift thru the socket. Both have their uses. Some recent cases had sinus anatomy where I thought both of those classic techniques would be challenging- either thick buccal bone that’s difficult to uniformly go thru from the lateral approach, or an uneven sinus floor that may deflect the versah bur during an indirect lift. (One case here had bone height < 5mm- studies show lower implant success in sites with less than 5mm bone height).

These are two cases where I lifted the sinus thru the socket at time of extraction. Piezosurgery was used to access sinus thru the socket to minimize a perforation (compared to a round bur on a drill).

Good lifts here. Conservative grafting to not accidentally push bone into the maxillary sinus. Good added height in sites where ordinary sinus lifts may be a litlte more challenging. I showed a colleague who said it’s basically like a big socket preservation. Plan for 4 months to heal and then place implants. Nice cases to solve a problem that may have been tricky with traditional approaches.

11/16/2023

I was thinking about this da Vinci illustration after posting on a sinus lift case.

Da Vinci did so much cool stuff. I got a biography came out a few years ago (Walter Isaacson’s). There’s a lot of text about LDV’s dedication to anatomic studies. He initially studied anatomy to educate his art. He dissected over 30 bodies in his life, making drawing and notes.

He did skull drawings in 1489. I learned he was basically the first person in history to “describe fully the human dental elements, including a depiction of the roots that is almost perfect.”

Da Vinci wrote “ the six upper molars have three roots each, of which two roots are on the outer side of the jaw and one on the inner.” Evidence he had cut through the wall of the maxillary sinus to determine the position of the roots.

To the left of the face LDV drew each of the four types of human teeth with a note saying that a human typically has thirty two teeth, including wisdom teeth.

Surgical, dental, medical training is usually built on and progresses from some prior understanding. I always think it’s amazing that someone was able to learn and record this over 500 years ago (and modern anatomy did not begin til 25 years after da Vinci’s death). He did all that without preservatives for cadavers, no CT scans. Doing this and able to record it in basically perfect detail. I have also never seen a reference for da Vinci from dental school or any related journals since.

11/16/2023

Another view of the before and after of this sinus lift case.

3 teeth needed replaced in an upper jaw with significant bone loss.

The thorough workup helps show where bone is needed to support future implants to restore missing teeth.

I always appreciate different views to evaluate and treat a case. 3D cone beam CT scans and implant planning software help not only diagnose a case but also create and execute a plan. Guided surgery here gives very nice results.

10/02/2023

Happy Fall everybody!!! 🍂 🍁 🎃

09/29/2023

2/2: A failing tooth in a thin ridge & patient desired implant. Thin ridge needed built up substantially-> a tough case. Xenograft (cow bone) used to laterally augment the ridge. Xeno is slower resorbing than allograft (human bone). The graft used was selected because newer research shows xeno processed at higher temps is more likely to keep its volume, and therefore cover an implant.
________

Much of the time there is bone on the outside of the tooth 🦷 ->the goal is to just preserve it after extraction. It’s easier to preserve something that’s already there. It’s harder to build something up from nothing (this is such a case.)

Here, the bone outside the tooth was very thin to nonexistent. The ridge also drops straight down-> I find these cases more challenging (less ridge inferiorly to support a bone graft). Another key idea is that after extraction, bone is primary lost on the outside of the tooth (facial) so that’s where much of the focus of grafting is.

Implants need more bone coverage than natural teeth. Anterior maxillary teeth for example have an average of ~0.8mm of bone over them. Implants nowadays need about 2mm of bony coverage for long term stability.

I needed to bulk it beyond its minimal dimension to allow for an implant and make sure the ridge was stable for the long term and not resorb.

🦴 Allograft in the socket and a facial bulk veneer of xenograft 🐮. Not every bone graft is the same. Even not all of the same type of grafts are the same. Xenograft (bovine, porcine, etc) has tended to resorb less than allograft- aka maintain a ridge width better. But not all xenograft is the same. Some are processed at higher temps, which result in less resorption…. Aka a ridge that stayed bulked. The one I used in this case is processed at 1200 degrees Celsius, the highest of any graft I’m aware of.

Slide 1: tooth in place and virtual implant superimposed to visualize amount of graft needed
Slide 2: Preop image vs postop graft healed showing nice bulk ready for implant placement
Slide 3: Preop plan vs postop result. Guided surgery was used to place the implant based on a thorough workup.

JOMS 77: p 690-697, 2019
JOMS 78, p 1717-1725, 2020

Stahr Oral Surgery

06/18/2025

06/18/2025

04/19/2025

04/08/2025

02/06/2025

01/31/2025

10/18/2024

11/16/2023

11/16/2023

10/02/2023

09/29/2023

Address

Opening Hours

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Monday	8am - 3pm
Tuesday	8am - 3pm
Wednesday	8am - 3pm
Thursday	8am - 3pm