
What is a Tooth Extraction?
A tooth extraction, also known as dental extraction, is the removal of a tooth or a series of teeth from the mouth. Often, our team will try to work with the patient to find other treatment options if possible. The most common type of tooth extraction occurs with the wisdom teeth. Once removed it makes room in the mouth for the remaining teeth to stay aligned.
Reasons to Extract a Tooth
There are many reasons our team may decide to pull a tooth. Although your permanent teeth are meant to last for a lifetime, many times this is not possible. A damaged tooth, whether caused by trauma or decay, may not be repairable and would need to be pulled. If it is left in place it might cause damage to surrounding teeth.
We might discuss tooth extractions when a patient’s mouth is too crowded for orthodontia, or properly aligning the teeth. Oftentimes, wisdom teeth need to be pulled for this reason, or pulled after orthodontia, so as to not undo the work of the braces. If we find a tooth is not able to protrude through the gums because other teeth are crowding it, we may recommend pulling the tooth to alleviate other problems down the line.
If the damage or decay extends into the center of the tooth where the blood vessels and nerves reside, this will leave the tooth open to bacteria and serious infection. We often look to see if root canal therapy is a better option here. However, if we find the infection too severe, then it is time to discuss an extraction to prevent the infection from spreading.
If one of our patients has a compromised immune system, we may consider pulling a tooth as an option. Sometimes, our patients may have health conditions which limit their ability to fight off infection. This can happen when having an organ transplant or chemotherapy. We may determine the risk of infection for a particular tooth is too great and decide to pull that tooth to be safe.
Most gum disease can be treated without removing the tooth. Gum disease is just an infection in the bones and tissues which support the teeth. In most cases, we can offer other solutions to help handle gum disease. However, if the gum disease has progressed to an advanced state and the teeth begin to loosen, we may determine it necessary to pull out the tooth.
Tooth extraction is often one of the best options for certain dental conditions. At Sparkle Dental we can help perform the tooth extraction if we determine it is the best procedure for your dental health.
When you are ready to discuss whether a tooth extraction is right for you, set up your routine dental exam today! Contact us at (617) 430-6404!