When Pulling Your Teeth Can Save Your Smile

The main goal of any good dentist is to save your natural teeth. However, tooth extractions are a part of general dental care – in the right situation. Removing a permanent tooth is never suggested without good reason. In fact, we only extract a tooth (or multiple teeth) if your overall smile health is at risk by leaving it in.

Preparing for Your Tooth Extraction

Don’t worry, modern dentistry offers plenty of ways to keep you relaxed and out of pain during your extraction procedure. However, an extraction is an oral surgery so you’ll want to be sure to communicate the following information with your dentist prior to your appointment:

• Your complete medical history
• Medications you’re currently
• History of heart issues or man-made heart valves
• Impaired immune system deficiencies
• Artificial joints or past surgeries
• A medical history of bacterial endocarditis

Three Reasons Why Extractions Are Recommended

#1 Dental Damage

Whether it is due to a car accident, sports injury or simply biting down on something too hard, your teeth can break under excessive pressure. While there are several restorations that can rebuild a damaged tooth, if the tooth is too far compromised, an extraction may be necessary. Other times, when the tooth is not repaired in a timely manner, it becomes too infected to leave in place.

#2 Overcrowded teeth

This one is out of your control. However, extractions may also be required to prepare your teeth for orthodontics or to get rid of painful dental pressure when the teeth are too crowded. This may look like overlapping teeth or crooked teeth, which can threaten your smile appearance as well as your smile health. Removing your teeth in this situation can allow your bite to fall into better position as well.

#3 Infected Teeth

As mentioned above, teeth can often become infected when dental damage is not treated. If the inside of a tooth becomes infected, it may not only cause pain but spread to nearby teeth as well. A root canal may be able to solve the problem, but if endodontic therapy fails, a tooth extraction is your best option.

The Next Step

Now that you’ve removed a damaged or infected tooth, the next step is to replace it. The most life-like option is a dental implant. The good news is that dental implants are an option if you’ve had just one tooth removed or a full mouth of teeth extracted. Call Dr. Wayne Suway today to learn more about how we can rebuild your smile using the most advanced treatments in  implant dentistry!