When patients see us for a tooth that is cracked or chipped, or one with tooth decay or an infection, then we help with custom restoration, such as crowns. But what if a tooth develops an issue that is too severe for restorative treatment? In these situations, we may need to gently extract the teeth to protect your smile from further complications. In today’s blog, your Virginia Beach, VA, dentist talks about our tooth extraction procedure.
When Your Tooth Needs Removal
If a tooth is severely damaged, it is vulnerable to serious decay or infection. Likewise, a cavity or infection that isn’t treated in a timely manner with a filling or root canal, then other teeth could suffer. Removal could prevent this from spreading and stop discomfort. We could also extract teeth to make room for orthodontic treatment, or to aid in improving bite balance and chewing function. If you have wisdom teeth soon to erupt, we could extract them to prevent impactions, infections, and even misalignment.
Preparing for the Tooth Extraction
Our team always takes steps to ensure the tooth extraction is a comfortable procedure, one that is effective and only requires a short recovery period. To get started, we will examine your smile with digital x-rays, which use 90% less radiation and allows us to pinpoint the position of the tooth and to plan the removal so we avoid blood vessels, sensitive tissues, and sinus cavities. We will also administer a local numbing agent to the area and discuss sedation to help you enter a calm and relaxed state during the procedure, with little to no memory of the tooth removal at all.
Tooth Removal and Recovery
When we have planned the treatment in detail and numbed the area, our team will use a pair for forceps to gently loosen and remove the tooth in question. We then suture the area closed as needed, and will send you home with prescriptions to help ensure a complication-free healing period and better comfort for the next day or two. When you return, we can remove sutures. Healing typically takes about 24 hours, and you will need to avoid activity or straws. Don’t prod the site with your tongue either, as we want a clot to form as part of the healing procedure.
If you have any questions about how we conduct a tooth extraction, or if you have a painful issue that needs attention, then contact our team right away. You deserve a strong, beautiful smile that is healthy, and we want to help you obtain it.
Talk to Our Team About Our Restorative Procedures
To learn more about our restorative treatments, give us a call at Absolute Dental Care in Virginia Beach, VA at (757) 428-7440 to schedule an appointment.
