Over 178 million American adults are missing at least one of their teeth. Several of these individuals come from California. While no one wants to lose a tooth, sometimes circumstances make it unavoidable to remove one or more teeth to protect your overall oral health. However, tooth removal is a complicated procedure and requires professional expertise.

Therefore, you need a reliable dentist, oral surgeon, or periodontist for dental extractions. Hemet dental care providers have substantial knowledge and expertise that can help you with such cases.

Who needs dental extraction?

Dental extraction is the process of surgically removing a tooth from the gum socket, which is carried out by a dentist, oral surgeon, or periodontist. The procedure usually takes place in the dentist’s office or a hospital. 

Although dental care providers prefer to preserve the natural tooth, sometimes they’re left with no choice but to remove the affected tooth. The following may need a dental extraction.

• Someone with a very severe tooth decay that cannot be reversed or repaired.
• Someone with a fractured tooth that is beyond healing or reconstruction.
• Someone with severely crowded teeth that affect the position of the jaws and cause pain and discomfort.
• Gum disease has severely affected the gums and bones supporting the tooth.
• Trauma and dental injuries.

Dental extraction procedure step-by-step

A dental extraction procedure may take anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the complexity of the case. Usually, the number of teeth involved and the type of dental extraction act as the main decisive factors in how long the surgery will take. Nonetheless, every dental extraction procedure follows the same course, which is as follows.

• The dentist will first apply a topical anesthetic gel and then administer a local anesthetic to numb the affected area so that you don’t feel pain during the procedure. The anesthesia may take a few minutes to take effect; the dentist will ensure that no more anesthetic is needed before proceeding further.
• Next, the dentist will loosen the tooth further by using an elevator tool that acts as a wedge between the tooth and surrounding bone, allowing the dentist to gently rock and loosen the tooth.
• Once the tooth is loosened enough, the dentist will use forceps to grasp the tooth and make gentle movements to twist and lift the tooth out of the socket.
• If the tooth is stubborn or placed at a complex angle, the dentist may make incisions in the gum and break the tooth into smaller pieces. The practice is more common with teeth that are broken at gum line level or wisdom tooth removal.
• Once done, the dentist will remove all the debris from the socket, clean the area, and place a gauze over the extraction site to stop bleeding.

Benefits of dental extraction

Dental extraction can solve several dental issues and provide excellent benefits, such as the following.

• Alleviate the pain, discomfort, and agony caused due to the affected tooth.
• Avoid future dental complications and save cost of more extensive dental procedures
• Make it possible for patients to have dental implants for restorative or cosmetic dentistry solutions.
• Extracting a severely infected or decayed tooth can save the rest of your teeth.
• Improve the smile of those who have crowded teeth.

Dental extraction aftercare

The dentists usually send the patients home on the same day of dental extraction. However, in complex extraction cases, the dentist may keep you under observation for a few hours. Nonetheless, dentists usually provide post-surgical instructions that help you recover quickly.

• You must keep the extraction site clean by regularly rinsing the area two to three times a day with an antibiotic mouthwash provided by the dentist. However, you must avoid directly brushing over the site.
• Take antibiotics and pain relievers as prescribed by the doctor to control the pain and prevent infection on the site.
• Avoid any strenuous activities like sports or workouts for a few days as it may increase your heart rate and cause bleeding and discomfort in the affected area.
• Eat soft foods and drink plenty of fluids.
• Have rest for a few days until the pain subsides.

Final takeaway

Despite being a relatively safer procedure, you must consider visiting a professional and experienced dentist for dental extraction to ensure a quick procedure and speedy recovery. Professional dental extraction can save you from a lot of trouble and discomfort down the road.