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Understanding Tooth Extractions: Why and How They Are Performed

You may have heard the word “extraction” when it comes to dental care and wondered what it means. You might even have been told that you need to have a tooth extracted. It is not difficult to understand. Extracting a tooth is the fancy term for removing a tooth. Here at Nevada Oral & Facial Surgery, we like to save a tooth when possible, but there are many cases where a tooth will need to be extracted.

Tooth Extractions: The Basics

It is common to extract a tooth. When a tooth is removed or pulled, it’s called an extraction. Your oral surgeon may recommend tooth extraction if your tooth is decayed or eroded to the point where a filling or a crown would not solve the entire issue. When a tooth is extracted, the entire tooth is removed from its bone socket. If a tooth proves difficult to extract, it may need to be removed in pieces.

There are many reasons why we might suggest that a tooth be extracted. Very often, it is because the tooth is damaged beyond repair due to tooth decay, plaque, and gum disease. Many oral issues, such as throbbing pain, impacted wisdom teeth, or tooth fracture can lead to tooth removal. Sometimes a tooth is loose, and there is no way that we can fix it. A tooth might also be extracted because it is crowding the other teeth in your mouth, or because it is deformed. Very often, wisdom teeth are extracted because there is not enough room in the jawline for them.

Why Get A Tooth Extraction If The Tooth Doesn’t Hurt

Many people don’t like the idea of getting their teeth extracted, except when it is painful. However, various things can allow our dental professionals to extract a tooth that doesn’t cause pain.

  • Tooth Decay: When an infection in the gums and teeth spreads to reach the inner parts of the tooth, it can kill the nerves inside. When this happens, it means that the tooth’s nerves cannot relay pain signals to your brain. While you may not have pain, the infection may continue spreading and put the health of the tissue, teeth, and bone around at risk.
  • Periodontitis: While gum disease is easier to treat during the early stages, it causes severe damage to the tissues supporting your teeth and the jawbone when it progresses and worsens. Our oral surgeon may recommend extracting the tooth that is badly damaged or loose as a result of advancing gum disease.
  • Overcrowding: People with overcrowded mouths may need tooth removal to create space for the remaining teeth to shift to their correct position. This is particularly true if you are receiving teeth or jaw alignment tools such as braces and Invisalign.

Simple Vs. Surgical Extractions

If a tooth can be easily seen in the mouth, it can be removed through a simple tooth extraction. With a simple extraction, we will remove the tooth and the root system altogether and whole. In simple tooth extraction procedures, an oral surgeon can generally remove the affected tooth with forceps after administering the necessary anesthetic.

Often, we will perform a complicated or surgical extraction instead. If the tooth cannot be removed easily without risking damage to your jaw and your other teeth, we will go with a complicated extraction. If a tooth is broken off or has not yet grown in, your oral surgeon may recommend surgical tooth extraction. We will then remove the pieces, one at a time, until the entire tooth has been removed. Surgical tooth extractions may require both local anesthetic and general anesthesia or intravenous sedation.

What To Expect and Sedation Options

Surgical tooth extraction procedures are a little more complex. After you are placed under anesthesia or other sedation methods, your oral surgeon will make a small incision in the gum to get to the affected tooth. They will then remove the entire tooth at once or piece by piece. Occasionally, your oral surgeon may need to remove affected bones around the tooth. After the tooth is extracted, your oral surgeon will clean and stitch up the affected area. For one tooth, the entire sedation and extraction process should take about 15 to 30 minutes.

When going in for a surgical tooth extraction, you have a few options when it comes to sedation:

  • Inhaled sedation: After the procedure is performed, you will most likely be able to drive home with this sedation option.
  • Oral sedation: This oral anesthesia can be administered in minimal to moderate doses.
  • IV sedation: This anesthesia option is administered through the veins, but you can easily be awoken from sedation.
  • Deep sedation: This requires general anesthesia, which can take some time to wear off after your procedure.

Tooth Extraction Aftercare and Recovery

After your tooth extraction procedure is over, your oral surgeon will explain their recommended aftercare instructions. You should expect to experience some form of discomfort after both simple and surgical extractions. Most pain can be relieved with over-the-counter pain medications like Advil, Tylenol, or Motrin. For most people, the pain usually decreases after the third day.

When healing from a tooth extraction, you should use an ice pack to keep the swelling down. Because oral cuts tend to bleed more than skin cuts, your oral surgeon may recommend that you bite down on a piece of gauze until the bleeding subsides. You will want to stick to soft foods while you heal. Dry socket is a fairly common problem after an extraction. A blood clot will form over the tooth socket almost immediately after the tooth has been extracted. If that clot comes loose, your nerve will be exposed. If you experience pain in the nerve area, let us know immediately.

The recovery time of tooth extraction depends on a few factors, including the tooth’s size and location, the patient’s dental history, and the patient’s compliance with post-procedure instructions. For a simple extraction, the average recovery time is between 48 and 72 hours. After this, patients can return to normal physical activity. For surgical extractions, we recommend resting for at least 72 hours without any physical activity. It still takes around a week to 10 days for the granulation tissue to form.

Replacing The Extracted Tooth

There are ways to replace a tooth that has been extracted. Sometimes, we will recommend that the tooth be replaced with a dental implant. We might suggest partial dentures. A dental bridge could be a possibility. In the case of extracting wisdom teeth, we will not replace them. We will talk to you about replacing the tooth, if necessary, before we extract the tooth.

Tooth extraction is nothing to be afraid of. Here at Nevada Oral & Facial Surgery, we will answer all of your questions before we extract the tooth. If you have not seen a dentist in a while, call (702) 360-8918. Regular dental checkups are an important part of keeping your mouth, your heart, and your mind healthy.

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