The goal of any dentist is to help you keep your natural teeth with treatments such as dental crowns, fillings, and root canals. However, there may come a time when a tooth is infected and the only resort is to remove it. Often this is done when infection consistently affects the tooth, there is a crack extending down into the root of the tooth, or a tooth has impacted another one. With issues like these, your Leawood, KS, dentist will suggest a tooth extraction. It may make you nervous just thinking about it, so let us understand more about the procedure so that you may feel less nervous.
The Treatment And Healing Processes
A tooth extraction means it is completely removed, roots included, from your mouth. When you visit your Leawood, KS, dentist, a dental sedation will be provided. We will also use a local anesthetic on the area and the tooth that we are working on. After the sedation takes effect, the tooth will carefully be removed. The procedure is usually completed quickly, and we use sutures to close the area where the tooth was. Because you will be groggy from the sedation, a loved one will need to pick you up and drive you home from the appointment. We can prescribe you pain relievers and antibiotics, too. While you are healing, we recommend that you eat soft foods and avoid anything that could prod or poke at the area, like a straw. A follow-up examination will allow us to determine how it is healing, and if it is looking good, you will then be able to resume your normal diet and daily routines.
What About Replacing The Tooth?
After a tooth is removed, there is a gap in your teeth. This is something that most people do not like because it may affect their biting and chewing and their overall smile. There are treatments, though, that can help, such as dental implants, bridges, and dentures. And if you are wondering about wisdom teeth, well those four extra molars often make their appearance later in life when someone is a teenager. Sometimes they do not come in straight and impact other teeth or create a misalignment in your biting function. This may cause an increase in infection risk. We will want to remove them if we notice this is happening. They will not need to be replaced, though.
Schedule An Appointment With Us Today!
Removing a tooth is part of a strategy to help maintain your long-term oral health. To learn more, schedule an appointment with us by calling Dreem Dentistry in Leawood, KS, today at 913-681-5500. We also serve patients who live in Overland Park and all surrounding communities.
