Background Information

The practice of Drs. Bobo, Pledger and Ridley (retired) has served patients in Western Kentucky and Northwest Tennessee for over 40 years. As oral and maxillofacial surgeons, Dr. Bobo and Dr. Pledger manage a wide variety of problems related to the mouth, teeth, and facial regions. They practice a full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery with expertise ranging from cosmetic facial surgery to corrective jaw surgery and tooth removal. They also diagnose and treat facial pain, facial injuries, jaw disorders, and perform a full range of dental implant procedures. Patients of all ages are welcome in the practice. Patients may be seen with or without a referral from their general dentist or primary physician. Both offices are well equipped to manage anesthesia and surgery on pediatric as well as adult patients. Children are frequently seen in both offices and are treated for such conditions as extraction of diseased teeth, oral and facial trauma, correction of tongue-tie (frenectomy), and removal of oral and facial lesions. Our goal is to allow the patients of the region to receive comprehensive oral and maxillofacial surgery locally.

We are pleased to announce that the practice recently added the services of Dr. Will Pledger. Dr. Pledger trained at UT-Memphis and has served in the Air Force for the past 5 years. He practices the full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

WHAT IS ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY?

Oral and maxillofacial surgery encompasses the art and science of diagnosis as well as treatment of diseases, injuries, deformities, defects, and esthetic aspects of the oral and maxillofacial region. The word “maxillofacial” refers to the jaws and face. Oral surgeons must have graduated from an accredited dental school. Following this four years of training, there is an additional four to six years of hospital-based training focused primarily on the oral and maxillofacial region. This extensive training includes traditional oral surgery as well as maxillofacial surgery. It includes significant medical training with rotations including anesthesia, critical care medicine, emergency room, internal medicine, general surgery, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, ENT surgery and pathology. Oral and maxillofacial surgery residents receive training in administration of both inpatient and outpatient anesthesia and are required to administer hundreds of anesthetics during their training. Many oral surgeons, like Dr. Bobo, also have formally attended medical school and have obtained a medical degree (M.D.).

Dr. Bobo and Dr. Pledger are board-certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. This required completion of an extensive application and examination process. They had to show evidence of experience in all aspects of oral and maxillofacial surgery. There were required to pass both thorough written and rigorous oral examinations to become certified as Diplomats of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

The scope of services provided ranges from IV anesthesia, removal of diseased and impacted teeth, dental implants, facial trauma, oral and facial pathology, reconstructive and cosmetic surgery, facial pain treatment including TMJ disorders, and correction of bite deformities and birth defects. Feel free to visit the procedure section of this website to learn more about the procedures that can be provided in both the office and hospital settings. We thank you for the visiting the site.