At Watsonville Family Dental, our maxillofacial dentist will recommend a tooth extraction if a tooth’s health is excessively compromised, and even dental repair cannot save it. You cal also have a tooth extraction to de-crowd an overcrowded mouth, preventing bite problems and improve appearance.

What is a Dental Extraction?

Dental extraction in Watsonville involves the complete removal of a tooth from its socket. The extraction procedure is basically performed by your oral surgeon in the office. However, many general and periodontists can perform this procedure as part of their fundamental skills in dentistry.

Our dental experts are highly trained to perform tooth extractions. Before sitting for the procedure, we thoroughly check your teeth and gums, looking for a possibility to save the tooth. If we can avoid removing the tooth, we recommend an alternative procedure to save the tooth.

There are two types of extraction procedures, namely:

• Simple Extractions

These are done on teeth that are visible in the mouth. They are mostly done under local anesthesia.

• Surgical Extractions

The dentist in Watsonville opts for surgical tooth extraction when the culprit tooth is not easily accessible. Surgical extractions are also more common when the tooth is not fully erupted or has a broken part under the gumline.

What Happens During an Extraction Procedure?

During a tooth extraction procedure, the dentist near you first administers local anesthesia, numbing the tooth extraction area. It means you will be awake throughout the procedure. In some instances, your dentist can administer stronger general anesthesia to prevent pain throughout the body, making you sleep through the process.

If it’s a surgical procedure, the dentist makes small incisions on the tissue covering the tooth, lifts the incisions, and uses forceps to gently loosen the tooth from the socket until it pops out. Sometimes, if it becomes difficult to remove the tooth as a whole, the dentist first splits it into several pieces then pulls them out. This is mainly for impacted teeth.

Reasons for Teeth Extraction

• Tooth Decay

Tooth decay is the leading global cause of tooth removal, both in children and adults. Patients recommended for tooth extraction may have neglected their dental appointments for cleanings and dental exams for years. It takes time for decay to eat out the tooth until tooth loss.

Decay starts wearing out the enamel, which protects the inner dentin and tooth pulp from external damage. When the tooth’s inner part is affected, there develops a hole in the tooth, which exposes it to further damage. Bacteria eventually get to the tooth pulp and infects the root canal.

More delay without receiving treatment means the tooth continually gets damaged until it gets to the point that it can’t be repaired. The dentist may therefore recommend tooth extraction and subsequent tooth restoration. Cavities and tooth decay can be prevented by following good oral hygiene and checking in to a dental office near you every six months.

• Gum Disease

If gum disease, however mild, is left untreated, its effects can be like tooth decay. Advanced stages of gum disease cause deterioration of the gum tissue and other tooth-supporting structures.

Teeth eventually become loose and may fall off on their own, or your dentist can perform a dental extraction procedure to remove them.

• Overcrowded Teeth

This is an orthodontic reason for tooth extraction. It becomes difficult to floss severely overcrowded teeth and remove the trapped particles between the tooth spaces. These could accumulate and attract harmful bacteria that cause tooth decay.

Pulling out excess teeth creates more space for other permanent teeth and improves the bite function.

• Impacted Teeth

An impacted tooth fails to erupt beyond the gum line or erupts partially. Impacted teeth can be caused by various reasons, like lack of space due to overcrowded teeth, or if the eruption occurs next to a twisted or oddly tilted tooth.

Mostly, impacted teeth erupt as wisdom teeth when the jaw does not have enough space to accommodate more teeth. Dentists in Watsonville can perform a tooth extraction to correct an impacted tooth.

• Tooth Breakage

If a tooth breaks very close to the gum line, it leaves a small portion of the original tooth visible to attach a dental crown or other tooth restoration forms. Here, the part left might necessitate a tooth extraction procedure to remove it.