At Gwinnett Dental Implant & Periodontal Center, we are committed to offering you high-quality dental care that will remedy your dental problems and save your teeth. However, sometimes, despite our best efforts, it might not be possible to save your tooth.
In such a situation, removal of the tooth through extraction becomes the next best solution. The extraction, while not saving your tooth, can help to spare you from other dental problems such as pain and discomfort, a spread of infection, or damage and the loss of other teeth.
Read on to find out more about this procedure.
Why Tooth Extraction?
Tooth extraction is usually used as a last resort for damaged teeth when a tooth decay or infection has spread to the extent that the tooth cannot be saved.
However, the procedure can also be performed under the following scenarios:
| • | As part of an orthodontic treatment – sometimes, orthodontic treatment might require extraction of one or more teeth, for example, when you have crowded teeth. The extraction helps to create space for the proper alignment of the remaining teeth. |
| • | Extraction of impacted teeth – teeth development issues can lead to some of your teeth becoming impacted, which can be painful, uncomfortable, not to mention the fact that it can cause damage to other natural teeth. Extraction, in this case, helps remove the problematic teeth. |
| • | Damage to your mouth due to dental disease – dental health conditions such as gum disease and bacterial infection can cause extensive damage to your mouth, which can affect the strength of your teeth. In some of these situations, tooth extraction can be the only solution left – when other treatments fail. |
The Tooth Extraction Procedure
Tooth extraction is usually a very simple procedure. Sedation, usually nitrous oxide or local anesthesia is used during the procedure to put you at ease and numb the feeling around the tooth. The affected tooth is then loosened (by rocking it back and forth to expand the tooth socket), before being pulled off using forceps.
However, in some situations, simple extraction – loosening the tooth and then pulling it off – might not be possible — for example, a broken tooth, an impacted tooth, or a tooth with improper position or abnormally large roots. Therefore, in such situations, the tooth is removed surgically.
Surgical removal involves creating an incision in the gum tissue surrounding the tooth to expose it. If the tooth is not properly exposed, part of the bone tissue surrounding the tooth socket can also be removed. The tooth is then removed either as a whole or by cutting it into small sections. The wound is then cleaned, disinfected, and the gums stitched up.
Following the extraction procedure, you are likely to experience some pain, bleeding, swelling, and irritation of the gums – especially if you have undergone surgical extraction. The bleeding is, however, managed by placing a sterile gauze, while pain can be relieved using pain medications prescribed after the procedure. Placing an ice pack on the cheeks, near the extraction site, can also help to ease pain and reduce the swelling.
Tooth Extraction Risks
While tooth extraction is a simple procedure, there is a possibility of a few risks:
| • | The tooth breaking during extraction – however, surgical extraction can be used to remove it when this happens |
| • | Damage of the jaw or sinus |
| • | Dry socket complications – when the tooth socket fails to properly heal following the extraction |
Is your tooth troubling you? Extraction can help to remove it, providing relief to the pain and sparing you from additional dental problems. Call us at (470) 222-8983 to schedule an appointment.