Tooth Extraction: When to Get It and What to Expect

Of all the dental procedures, one of the most dreadful is tooth extraction! It involves pulling a tooth off and possibly replacing it.

Why/When should I need one?

• You may need tooth extractions for a lot of reasons. Firstly, you may be suffering from a badly infected tooth, or a decayed tooth, which cannot be healed with any possible dental procedure. In such cases, to stop the infection from spreading, the affected tooth is removed and replaced.
• You may have even had a broken or chipped tooth that puts a flaw on that perfect smile of yours! In such cases, the broken or chipped tooth is replaced with a crown or an implant to restore the aesthetics of your smile!
• Tooth extraction could also be related to alignment issues. When a tooth is misaligned or is overlapping another one, it is extracted to prevent further complications or infections.
• The most common form of tooth extraction in the United States is wisdom tooth extraction. As per an article published by Vox, 5 million people undergo wisdom teeth removal each year. However, many of these wisdom teeth removal processes could be unnecessary, according to some experts. They say that patients should undergo wisdom teeth removal, only when there is a great deal of pain or infection associated with the wisdom tooth. Otherwise, the choice of undergoing wisdom teeth removal should completely belong to the patients.

“Dentists and oral surgeons agree across the board that there’s cause to remove wisdom teeth if a patient is in pain or if there are signs of disease popping up, like tooth decay or infection. That’s an obvious choice. But taking out wisdom teeth when there aren’t any symptoms is where the professionals get into it.”

Now, suppose you do qualify for a tooth extraction procedure! What should you expect? If pain and horror are the reasons why you would never undergo a tooth extraction even if you require it, your oral condition is likely to become nearly irreversibly unbearable, sooner than you’d know! However, with the following points listed out, not only would you know what to expect from the process and anticipate it perfectly, but you’d also figure out that the experience is not as terrifying as you thought it is!

What to expect?

• Starting with the good news, your dentist would first give you a local anesthetic injection, or a strong anesthetic (depending upon the situation) to ease you and help you sleep during the extraction.
• The dentist is most likely to use pliers for tooth extraction. Usually, for a tooth that is firmly rooted, the tooth is rocked back and forth gently to loosen it. Cutting a few surrounding gums and bone tissues may also be needed to ease the purpose. If the tooth is too hard to remove, it might be broken down and removed in pieces.
• The dentist would then use self-dissolving stitches to prevent bleeding in the extraction area. To cover a blood clot in the socket, the dentist would use a gauze pad and ask you to gently bite on it to stop the bleeding. Be careful to bite it gently, though! If the clot breaks loose, it would lead to a condition called, “dry socket”, which is terribly painful! That being said, if you do bite gently enough, you’re through with your tooth extraction!

Which part of it looked frightening to you? The best part is, even if any part does frighten you, remember that you’d be sleeping throughout the procedure and hence, would not feel a thing! As far as the residual pain is concerned, patients have said that painkillers like Ibuprofen are enough to get rid of it! Take your medications responsibly and do not overdose on any medication. Do not smoke or drink as that interferes severely with the healing process, and take complete rest for about 40 hours! That is all you’d need to know and do about a tooth extraction procedure!