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We will always try our best to salvage your tooth before resorting to an extraction. If the tooth is salvageable, we may recommend a root canal treatment so the tooth doesn’t need to be extracted. However, if decay is too extensive, a tooth can sometimes not be saved.
There are various reasons that you may need a tooth extracted. The most commonly extracted teeth are wisdom teeth because they often grow improperly, are impacted in the gums, or cause oral health problems. Other reasons you may need an extraction is if your teeth are overcrowded, diseased, or have suffered from dental trauma.
Pay attention to the following signs which suggest you could need a tooth extraction:
• Severe tooth pain
• Gum disease
• Impacted teeth
• Severe decay
• Jaw pain and stiffness
• Crooked teeth caused by overcrowding
At Valley Edge Dental, we perform tooth extractions with expert precision and make you feel comfortable by offering nitrous oxide sedation. If you need an extraction or a tooth replacement after extraction, contact us today to schedule an appointment.
Tooth extraction begins with a comprehensive examination of your teeth, gums, and dental records to determine your suitability for the procedure. If suitable, the dentist will inject a local anesthetic (lidocaine or epinephrine) directly into the gums below the affected teeth to numb the region and ensure a painless extraction.
Next, the dentist uses a special tool called an elevator to loosen the tooth by lifting it from its sockets and widening the sockets. Once loose, the dentist will tightly grip the tooth with forceps and rock it gently before pulling it out. You’ll feel a bit of pressure and movement but no pain at all.
Bleeding begins almost immediately after pulling out the tooth. The dentist will apply a cotton ball to the extraction site to slow the bleeding. After, they’ll carefully clean any debris in the socket and may sometimes suture the wound to close it. You’ll then receive instructions for taking care of the extraction site until recovery.
A tooth extraction significantly restricts your dietary options since hard and crunchy foods could graze the wound and disrupt healing. As such, you’ll want to stick to soft foods and liquids like soup and broth. Soup and broth are incredibly nutritious and can provide you with the necessary minerals necessary to promote healing.
Additionally, you can take plain yogurt without fruit or chocolate chunks that may get stuck on the wound. Yogurt is a great source of protein, which helps in the rebuilding of damaged tissue. Smoothies should also form part of your diet after dental extraction since it provides essential nutrients without chewing.
Eggs are another soft, protein-rich food you can eat after extracting your tooth. Scrambled eggs work best since you can control their consistency and ensure it doesn’t get too chunky. Wash the eggs down with a protein shake for a nutritious meal that accelerates the healing of the tooth extraction site.
An extraction can sound like a scary and painful procedure but the truth is we do everything in our power to make you as comfortable as possible during the procedure, and to minimize pain. You won’t feel much pain during the procedure because we administer local anesthesia that numbs the area and if you are sedated during the procedure, you’ll feel extremely relaxed and will likely not remember anything once it’s over.
Regardless of the numbing agents, the actual nerves responsible for sensation are located in your teeth, and during the extraction procedure, these are severed. Without these nerves, there is no pain. The local anesthesia will take hours to wear off so you will still be numb for a while.
Once it does wear off, however, make sure to take any prescribed or over-the-counter anti-pain medication to relieve discomfort or pain. Make sure to follow your Eau Claire dentist’s aftercare instructions and try your best not to dislodge blood clots at the extraction site.
Dislodging blood clots can lead to a very painful condition known as dry socket. If you take good care of your oral health and follow the dentist’s instructions, you won’t run into any problems and can expect the pain to be kept to a minimum.
