Surgical Tooth Extractions: When Do They Become Necessary
Your teeth are essential not merely for speaking and eating but also to maintain the strength and structure of your jawbone and oral cavity. It is why dentists recommend tooth restoration over extraction wherever possible. Unfortunately, in rare cases, where a tooth loss suffered extensive damage due to injury or decay or overcrowding not resolvable with restorative procedures, dentists recommend an extraction. Recommendations for extractions are also made if the method is financially feasible over specific techniques.
The Reasons Why Surgical Extraction of a Tooth Becomes Necessary
If your tooth has straight roots extending above the gum line and is structurally sound for the loosening and extracting in one piece from above the gums, you merely require a simple tooth extraction. On the other hand, surgical extraction of the tooth becomes necessary to section the tooth in pieces or make incisions in the soft tissue to enable tooth removal. In addition, surgical removals are helpful to extract impacted wisdom teeth, widely damaged teeth without sufficient structure or teeth contributing to overcrowding issues making removal via simple extraction impossible.
After recommending surgical extraction, the dentist requests your entire health history to determine whether you need antibiotics before the surgical procedure to ensure the process proceeds smoothly and you recover without problems.
Aren’t Surgical Extractions Painful?
We will not be giving you accurate information if we mention surgical extractions are entirely painless because they aren’t. Any surgical procedure causes discomfort, and dentists are fully aware of this situation.
Before the surgical procedure, you receive sedation and local anesthesia. Sedation enables you to relax while remaining awake during the process. It also helps to overcome any anxiety you have about dental procedures. Sedation dentistry is for anxiety management but does not ensure you have pain relief. Dentists have a solution to overcome this issue as they inject local anesthesia into your mouth. You will likely not realize the shot being injected as you are entirely relaxed. Best of all, you feel the procedure was over in minutes even though you may spend more time in the dentist’s chair.
After you are entirely pain-free, the dentist makes incisions in your gums to elevate the gum flap if required. When the tooth is either partly visible or not visible, the dentist must expose it through gum incisions and elevation. Next, the dentist releases periodontal ligament fibers. Although the teeth are not fused to the bone shock absorbing ligament fibers, suspend them in the bony tooth socket.
Dentists use a unique dental instrument called Periotome to release the periodontal ligament fibers enabling tooth removal with ease. In some cases, the bone around the tooth also needs removal to allow the extraction. When starting the procedure, dentists place a gauze safety net at the back of your mouth to ensure you are protected against inhaling or swallowing the tooth during removal.
In many cases, surgical extractions also require the tooth to be sectioned in pieces for safe and convenient removal. The dentist decides how many parts your tooth needs sectioning depending on the shape and number of the roots besides neighboring nerves that need protection.
The bony socket of the tooth is pliable, indicating expanding the bony socket gently to allow for easier tooth removal is possible. Here again, dentists use instruments called an elevator to apply leverage to the tooth to loosen it. After that, the tooth sectioned into pieces is easily removed without requiring expansion of the bony socket.
Finally, the dentist removes the tooth from the socket, gently removing the pieces in a specific sequence to ensure smooth removal.
What Other Procedures do Dentists Perform during Surgical Extractions?
If your tooth or teeth are undergoing a surgical extraction and need replacements, the dentist may perform a socket graft to prevent bone resorption and maintain the standard height and width of the bony ridge.
After extracting the tooth, the dentist applies pressure to control bleeding with a gauze. No significant arteries are present in the tooth sockets, and the bleeding following the extraction is minimal. However, applying pressure and gauze to the extraction site ensures the bleeding is minimized further.
If you have received sedation and local anesthesia, you require help to return home because you may not be in a position to drive. Dentists provide after-care instructions following the surgical procedure to ensure you heal quickly and without significant problems. It is incredibly essential for you to adhere to the after-care instructions because it can mean the difference between a quick recovery or prolonged treatments from your dentist.