Tooth extractions are often one of the most common procedures dentists perform, and for patients, it’s often a terrifying experience. While the procedure may be daunting, it’s a necessary procedure that works to protect your smile. When your dentist or oral surgeon recommends tooth extractions, many situations qualify for it. Under the hands of a qualified and skilled team, they can perform a tooth extraction and provide you with an excellent selection of tooth replacement options.
How Do Tooth Extractions Protect Your Smile
Tooth extractions involve removing a tooth from your mouth through oral surgery. When your dentist recommends tooth extraction, it protects your oral health from other problems. Tooth extractions are an important part of oral health care because when a tooth is infected, damaged, or decaying, it can lead to other dental problems later on if left untreated. A damaged or infected tooth can cause problems with chewing and speaking, cause immense pain, and cause other healthy teeth to become damaged or infected. In worst-case scenarios, untreated teeth can lead to tooth loss, and tooth extraction helps prevent that outcome by removing the tooth.
So when is it necessary to get a tooth extraction? Tooth extractions are often considered a last resort by many dentists because their primary goal during treatment is to preserve your natural teeth as much as possible. In this goal, other treatments, such as root canal therapy, dental crowns, and dental fillings, are used to help restore the natural tooth’s function. Tooth extractions are used when the tooth cannot be saved or when no other treatments are viable enough to save the tooth. Some circumstances that can lead to a tooth extraction include:
- Tooth Decay: Tooth decay in its earliest stages can often be treated with fillings and even crowns, but if tooth decay that’s advanced far enough that the tooth is severely damaged and is causing further damage to the surrounding teeth, then tooth extraction is often necessary.
- Gum Disease: Despite its name, untreated gum disease can be just as destructive as tooth decay. Advanced stages of gum disease, also known as periodontitis, can cause the gum to recede, exposing the tooth’s roots and exposing roots to decay.
- Overcrowded Teeth: When a person has overcrowded teeth, the teeth can shift over time and cause misalignments that interfere with a person’s ability to brush and floss their teeth effectively, and in some cases, tooth extractions can help a person with orthodontic treatment.
- Wisdom or Impacted Teeth: Impacted teeth are teeth that are shifting inside the jawbone or teeth that are pushing the teeth at an unnatural angle. Most often, these are wisdom teeth, and wisdom teeth need to be extracted to help maintain the mouth’s alignment.
- Damaged Teeth: For teeth that have been damaged due to traumatic accidents, the tooth can be so broken that it cannot be repaired through conservative means. In these cases, tooth extraction can help remove the damage and replace the tooth.
Contact Superb Dental Care To Learn More About Tooth Extractions
At Superb Dental Care, we are proud to provide you with tooth extractions and restoration options for your smile. Our skilled and dedicated team, under the guidance of Dr. Reynaldo Barbon, works to provide tooth extractions in Pasadena, CA, to help patients have better oral health. To learn more, schedule an appointment by calling (626) 844-7778 today!