Page 10 - Boyne Dental E-Mag

If a tooth has been broken or damaged by decay, your dentist will try to fix with a filling, crown or
other dental treatment. But when there’s too much damage for the tooth to be repaired, the tooth
may need to be extracted or removed. Extractions are performed for a wide variety of reasons, but
most commonly to remove teeth which are not restorable. Sometimes wisdom teeth are impacted
(stuck and unable to grow normally into the mouth) and may cause recurrent infections of the
gum. In orthodontics if the teeth are crowded, sound teeth may be extracted to create space so the
rest of the teeth can be straightened. Before a tooth is removed, you dentist will thoroughly re-
view your medical and dental history and take the appropriate x-rays. Before removal, the area

around your tooth will be anesthetized. Dentists use a local anaesthetic to numb the area of the
mouth where the extraction will take place. Some teeth are more difficult to remove for several
reasons, the tooth position, the shape of the tooth roots and the condition of the tooth.

Two Types of Extraction:

Simple Extractions are performed on teeth that are visible in the mouth, usually under local anaes-
thetic, and require only the use of instruments to elevate and grasps the visible portion of the

tooth. Typically the tooth is lifted using an elevator and using dental forceps, rocked back and forth
until the periodontal ligament has been sufficiently broken and the supporting alveolar bone has
been adequately widened to make the tooth loose enough to remove. Typically , when teeth are
removed with forceps, slow steady pressure is applied with controlled force.

Surgical Extractions involve the removal of teeth that cannot be easily accessed, either because
they have broken under the gum line or because they have not erupted fully. Surgical extractions
almost always require an incision. In a surgical extraction, the doctor may elevate the soft tissue
covering the tooth and bone, and may also remove some of the overlying and surrounding jaw-

bone tissue with a drill or by osteotomy. Frequently, the tooth may be split into multiple pieces to
facilitate its removal. Surgical extractions are usually performed under a general anaesthetic.