Our teeth are normally very strong but sometimes they can have problems.
If your tooth has been broken or is damaged by decay, the staff at Aberdeen Smiles in Aberdeen, SD will try to fix it with a filling, crown, or other dental treatment.
Sometimes the tooth will be too damaged and the only option is to extract it. Here are some of the reasons we might need to extract a tooth:
Tooth Decay
Filling a tooth is an effective treatment for many cavities. While a tooth filling is an effective treatment for a small cavity, if your tooth is severely decayed, it may be impossible to keep the tooth. In that case, we may recommend an extraction.
Broken Tooth
You should consider a broken tooth a dental emergency and call our office immediately. Many times a broken tooth can’t be saved. Call our office and we’ll get you in as soon as possible to look at your broken tooth.
Crowded Mouth
Another reason for an extraction is if you have a small jaw and can’t fit all your teeth in your mouth. One of our dentists will determine if extracting a tooth or teeth will ease the condition and help to align your smile.
Impacted Teeth
If your tooth doesn’t come in properly, it is considered impacted. This can be very damaging to your smile. Removing the impacted tooth will relieve pain and keep your other teeth safe from harm as well.
Accommodations For Braces
People getting braces may need to have some teeth extracted in order to create room for the teeth that are being moved to create a straight smile.
Wisdom Teeth
Your wisdom teeth, also called third molars, commonly come in during the late teens or early 20s. Sometimes these teeth can get stuck in the jaw and become impacted, causing pain and swelling. In that case, we would have to extract them.
We would also have to extract your wisdom teeth if they become decayed, are causing pain, or develop a cyst or infection. If you need all four wisdom teeth removed, they are usually taken out at the same time.
Types Of Extractions
There are two types of tooth extractions:
- A simple extraction is performed on a tooth that can still be seen in the mouth. In a simple extraction, the dentist will loosen your tooth with an instrument called an elevator. Then she’ll remove the tooth with forceps.
- A surgical extraction is more complex. A tooth could be broken at the gumline or maybe hasn’t come into the mouth yet at all. The dentist will make a small incision in your gum to extract the tooth. Sometimes the dentist will have to remove some of the bone around the tooth or to cut the tooth in half in order to extract it.
Numbing
We will use a local anesthetic to numb your mouth before the extraction. The anesthetic inhibits nerve fibers so you won’t feel any pain.
You may feel pressure during your extraction procedure. That’s different than pain. If you do start to feel any discomfort, let your dentist know immediately. We will adjust the numbing as we need to to make you comfortable.
We also offer the option of sedation dentistry. Nitrous oxide, also called laughing gas, may also be used during an extraction procedure.
After The Procedure
Once your tooth has been extracted, your dentist will place some gauze over the site where the tooth was and then ask you to bite down. When you apply steady pressure over the next hour or so, it will help control any bleeding you might have.
You may or may not have some swelling after the procedure. If you do, or the dentist anticipates that you will, she may give you an ice pack to apply to your face. The sooner the ice pack treatment begins after an extraction, the more effective it will be.
We’ll send you home with postoperative directions that include what to do and what not to do the first day and in the days that follow.
You can trust that the compassionate team at Aberdeen Smiles will do everything possible to make your tooth extraction a safe procedure. Call our Aberdeen, SD office at 605-277-9049 to schedule your dental consultation today. You can use our online form to ask us a question, leave a comment, or even schedule your appointment.