Tooth Extraction
Tooth extraction or tooth removal is a procedure that the dentist will pull out the tooth that can’t be treated.
Overview of Tooth Extraction
If a tooth has been broken or damaged by decay, the dentist will try to fix it with a filling, crown or other dental treatment. But when there’s too much damage for the tooth to be repaired, the tooth may need to be extracted or removed from its socket in the bone. It is usually done by a dentist or oral surgeon.
Type of Tooth Extraction
- A simple extraction: this procedure is on a tooth that can be seen in the mouth. For a simple extraction, the dentist loosens the tooth with an instrument called an elevator. Then the dentist uses forceps to remove the tooth.
- A surgical extraction: this is a more complex procedure, which is used if a tooth may have broken off at the gum line or has not erupted in the mouth. The oral surgeon will make a small incision into the gum to surgically remove the broken tooth or impacted wisdom tooth.
Tooth Extraction Recommended For:
- Patients with the problem in which the tooth’s pulp gets involved with excessive infection and tooth are extremely decayed and also when root canal treatment and antibiotics are no longer working
- Patients who need an orthodontics procedure that usually it needs to make space for other teeth shift • Children with milky tooth whom the tooth does not fall
- In the immune system compromised patients (the patients on chemotherapy or organ transplantation recipients) who are at the risk of infection
Before Tooth Extraction
The dentist asks for some tooth x-rays for scheduling the procedure. The dentist needs to know a patient’s medical history and Chronic Diseases and pregnancy. If the procedure assumed to belong or the immune system is weakened, and the patient has a special medical history (like damaged or replaced a heart valve, liver disease, replaced joint, congenital heart defect or history of bacterial endocarditis), the dentist will prescribe antibiotics before and after the procedure. Patients should not smoke from the night before the operation.
During Tooth Extraction
At first, the dentist injects anesthetic medicine, and when the mouth is numb, he or she will start the procedure. The dentist will use a device to pull the tooth. In more complicated cases that the tooth does not get out, the dentist or oral surgeon will cut the gum and bone tissue to pull the tooth out of its place. In the end, a special gaze will be put on the empty toothpick to control the bleeding.
After Tooth Extraction
It is recommended to bite the gaze gently for an hour to reduce bleeding and keep a gaze for several hours. Applying an ice bag is useful, too. If pain killers and antibiotics are prescribed, they must be taken. Feeling pain is normal in the first days. At first 24 hours after procedure rest and avoid smoking, hot foods and beverages and also intense rinsing. Brushing and flossing are not avoided but should not be applied on that tooth side. After this time passed, the mouth should be rinsed with a solution of half teaspoon salt in a glass of water. It is better to continue eating soft foods up to extraction site heals.