How to Prepare for Tooth Extraction in Austin
May 12, 2020
Tooth extraction is one of the most common procedures in dental health. For the most part, tooth extraction is performed on children, especially when they have problematic milk teeth. Even then tooth extraction in Austin TX has benefited many adults. Unfortunately for us, tooth loss is still a problem in the 21st century. Adults lose their teeth to different causes, including tooth decay.
Resolving for tooth extraction in Austin is not always a finality. A dentist gets to examine your oral health, to determine the best possible course of action that will benefit your oral health. For tooth extraction to be necessitated, there must be a solid ground to which the recommendation was made.
What is Tooth Extraction?
It is the forceful removal of a mature tooth from its root. It is performed by a general dentist or even an oral surgeon. Ideally, the procedure is only offered on a need basis. It falls under restorative dentistry and has nothing to do with cosmetic dentistry. The process involves removing all contents of a tooth, usually following significant tooth damage.
Who Needs their Teeth Removed?
Tooth extraction near you is a service open to all patients. However, there is no reason to extract a perfectly good and healthy tooth, unless under the following circumstances:
- Risk of infection – this is often for patients who have underlying health problems. Such problems can have negative impacts on their oral cavity, even placing their teeth at risk of infection.
- Dental decay – an oral cavity is not enough to merit tooth removal. That can be treated with dental fillings and root canal. However, some cases of dental decay completely sabotage the structure of a tooth. This is so much so that the tooth becomes a risk if it remains intact in your mouth.
- Problematic wisdom teeth – these are the last set of teeth to grow. They are molars that grow at the far back ends of your mouth, on either arc. The teeth are meant to offer additional support to the functionality of the initial premolars and molar teeth. However, how they grow is not always assured. Some wisdom teeth can grow in the wrong direction. This can either cause problems for adjacent teeth or your gum tissue at the far back. Besides, some can remain stuck underneath the gum tissue. Such problems with the wisdom teeth can merit their removal.
- Crowded mouth – orthodontics is the process of realigning teeth to ensure that they are sitting correctly in their respective jaws. The process of orthodontics can sometimes involve tooth extraction. This is so for a crowded mouth situation. It is either that the teeth are too big for the jawbone, or that there are more teeth than should be. The later can be explained by some stubborn milk teeth not falling off when they should have. For orthodontics, you can have a perfectly healthy tooth removed, to create more room for the rest of them.
Preparing for A Tooth Extraction Procedure
The procedure of having your tooth removed can be scary. This is because of the anticipated pain and discomfort. However, you have nothing to worry about, since the dentist has a measure to assure you maximum comfort during the procedure. Some of the things you should anticipate include the following:
- Sedation – local anesthesia has to be used to heal alleviate the pain and discomfort. In other cases, other types of sedation can be used. These will help you remain calm and relaxed throughout your procedure.
- Gum incision – this is a small cut that is made on your gum tissue. It helps expose the jawbone holding your tooth in place. The bone then has to be removed, to expose the tooth that needs to be removed.
- Shaking the foundation – this involves rocking the tooth back and forth. The idea is to loosen it from its root, for easier detaching.
- Removal of the tooth – this is the easy part. The tooth is separated from its socket. The are is then cleaned of any infection and residues.
- Finishing up – the gum tissue is sewn back together, and allowed to heal.
Note: in some cases, the tooth might be broken into small pieces for easy removal. This is mainly for teeth that are too stubborn to detach as a whole.