Five Things You Need to Know about Tooth Extractions
Tooth extractions entail removing a tooth entirely from its socket. Some might think it is an excellent technique to stay away from work for a few hours by getting a tooth extracted. Unfortunately, the procedure isn’t enticing, although dentists remove millions of teeth yearly. Most tooth extractions are performed quickly and smoothly and improve oral health in the long term.
Tooth extractions in Mississauga, ON, don’t recommend tooth removal for every patient that walks through their doors. Instead, they examine the patient’s oral health and consider alternative options to preserve the affected tooth by providing therapies like root canals, dental crowns, et cetera. However, if the patient is affected by aggravated infections or has a severely damaged tooth, the professionals suggest tooth removal and replacement with alternative solutions.
When Do Dentists Recommend Tooth Removal?
Your permanent teeth are expected to last for life. However, an extraction becomes necessary for the following reasons.
- You have irreparable tooth damage due to decay.
- You are affected by severe periodontal disease.
- You have impacted third molars causing pain and infection and needing a wisdom tooth extraction.
- You need orthodontic treatment to straighten crooked teeth because of crowding or extra teeth in your mouth.
- An accident has caused severe damage to a tooth damaging it below the gum line.
How Are Tooth Extractions Performed?
Most tooth removal procedures are relatively straightforward and performed by dentists in a simple or surgical process.
Visible teeth in the mouth are extracted in a simple process providing local anesthesia. First, the dentist loosens the visible tooth using elevators before removing it from its socket with forceps.
If you are scheduled for wisdom tooth removal impacted below your gum line, you will require a surgical procedure. Surgical extractions are involved and will need more potent anesthesia, like sedation, besides local anesthesia in the mouth. The dentist must make incisions in your gums to expose the tooth hidden below them and remove the bone covering it to access the tooth. The tooth is removed in sections after cutting it if it is challenging to extract before placing gauze on the surgical site to prevent bleeding and help blood clot formation.
Things You Should Know about Tooth Extractions
Dentists don’t recommend tooth removal except for your wisdom teeth, that in most cases, are impacted and serve no purpose other than causing complications in your mouth. Instead, dentists consider all alternatives to preserve your tooth and suggest extractions only as a last resort when they have exhausted other options.
Tooth removal procedures don’t just leave you with gaps between your smile but also help improve your oral and general health. For example, should you have a severely decayed tooth that is challenging to preserve even after performing root canal therapy, the dentist suggests removing the tooth to benefit your dental health and prevent complications from the infections in the tooth.
Dentists don’t recommend tooth removals merely by looking at them. Instead, when you seek treatment for an infected or damaged tooth, the dentist takes an x-ray to determine which approach is excellent to preserve the tooth and determine the course of action if it needs extraction.
The Mississauga dentist inquires about your medical history and the medications you take, whether prescription or over-the-counter, to ensure they create a treatment plan explicitly for you or provide antibiotics if you have conditions that make you susceptible to infections. They also recommend delaying the extraction if you have an impaired immune system and giving medications to strengthen it before proceeding with the tooth removal procedure.
Expect the dentist to discuss anesthesia options with you after inquiring about your dental anxiety and suggest the most comfortable solution, depending on your unique situation. Local anesthesia is the most commonly used by dentists for simple extractions. However, if you are anxious about dental procedures, dentists can arrange to give you sedation or intravenous anesthesia to help calm you during the removal and think the dentist completed the process in minutes when you may have spent more time in the dentist’s chair.
If you have had a tooth removed in the aesthetic zone, the dentist will suggest replacement options like bridges or dental implants to ensure the tooth removal procedure doesn’t impact your aesthetic appearance. Except for wisdom teeth located at the back corner of your mouth and causing problems that need no replacement, expect your Mississauga dentist to suggest you close the gap between your teeth to prevent unnecessary complications.
If you are getting a tooth extracted from Sherwood Forrest Dental for reasons mentioned in this article, expect to receive comprehensive information from the practice on how the extraction procedure will proceed. The information helps to complete the removal and get tooth replacements if needed from the dental practice.