Maintaining oral health is the best way to keep your teeth and gums healthy. While brushing twice a day, flossing, and visiting your dentist regularly is the best way to ensure your teeth last a lifetime, sometimes conditions and accidents can damage your teeth and sometimes an extraction is necessary.
Tooth Extraction Process
If you decide tooth extraction is the best solution for you, Dr. Syed will ensure the process is as painless and comfortable as possible.
First, he’ll use a sedation method and a form of anesthetic to make sure you’re relaxed and that the surgical area is numbed.
Next, Dr. Syed will use professional technology to remove the tooth. He’ll cover the area with a gauze pad immediately after the procedure to help the area heal and to protect it from becoming infected.
We’ll send you home with recovery instructions along with any pain medication we think you may need.
Why Teeth Need to Be Extracted
Having a full set of teeth is vital for your oral health, but it’s crucial that these teeth remain healthy and intact. While Dr. Syed will do his best to save your teeth when they become damaged, there are reasons why he might decide an extraction is necessary.
When plaque first latches on to the tooth, it can create tooth decay known as cavities. If these cavities are left untreated, they can infect the entire tooth and eventually attack the roots as well.
Once the entire tooth and roots become infected, the tooth most likely can’t be saved and needs to be extracted. If infected teeth aren’t removed at this point, they can infect the rest of the teeth or lead to gum disease.
Injuries caused by sports, car accidents, or falling down can badly injure teeth. Incidents like these can cause one or more teeth to break or crack. Sometimes a tooth’s root can become fractured a well. If the tooth can’t be saved with a crown, Dr. Syed will extract it.
In some situations, a person’s jaw can become overcrowded with teeth, resulting in the need for teeth to be extracted. This is common in children who are in need of braces. The dentist must extract one or more teeth to allow the rest of the teeth to straighten and align properly.
Replacing An Extracted Tooth
Once your tooth has been removed, Dr. Syed recommends replacing it as soon as possible to keep the area from becoming infected. A dental implant is the best way to replace a missing tooth and will stimulate jaw bone growth as well.
A dental implant is made of a titanium “root”, a connecting piece, and a porcelain crown. The dental implant is secured directly to your jaw and looks just like your natural teeth.
Wisdom Tooth Extractions
Wisdom teeth can overcrowd the jaw and are usually removed before or after they grow in. If you experience any pain or discomfort with your wisdom teeth, having them extracted as soon as possible is recommended.
Emergency Tooth Extractions
Teeth are vulnerable and can be damaged easily. If you experience severe infections or tooth loss due to an accident, contact our friendly staff at (302) 994-3093.
If a tooth falls out of its socket, there’s a chance we can restore it if you contact us within an hour of the incident.
Tooth Extraction Aftercare
To ensure the gums heal properly after a tooth is extracted, Dr. Syed has created aftercare guides for both adults and children.
For adults recovering from tooth extraction he recommends you:
- Take painkillers as prescribed
- Apply ice as necessary
- Use the gauze Dr. Syed gives you for the first three hours
- Elevate your head while sleeping
- Avoid drinking from a straw
- Eat soft foods until the area is healed
- Rinse with warm water 24 hours AFTER the procedure
For children, he recommends the following:
- Apply ice as needed
- Give them the correct dosage of pain medicine
- Encourage them to avoid touching the area
- Provide them with soft foods
- Have them rest immediately after surgery
- Rinse with warm water after 24 hours
What To Do If Complications Occur
Like any procedure, tooth extractions don’t always go 100% smoothly. Whether your mouth is extra sensitive or proper aftercare tips aren’t followed, complications may occur and it’s important for you to know how to handle them.
On rare occasions, you may experience nerve injury following your procedure. This is a tingling or numbing feeling that can last for a few weeks and sometimes become permanent. While there’s not much you can do to eliminate it, taking pain medicine may help alleviate the feeling.
When your tooth is extracted, the gums underneath become vulnerable to bacteria and infection. If the socket becomes infected, you’ll be prescribed antibiotics to eliminate the infection.
A common complication with tooth extractions is known as dry socket. This occurs when a blood clot fails to form in the empty socket, exposing your bone and nerves. The complication causes severe pain in your jaw and gums.
If you experience this, your doctor may clean out the area, cover it, and prescribe you pain medicine.
FAQs
While the exact time varies from patient to patient, it may take 20-40 minutes for Dr. Syed to extract a tooth.
After your procedure, it’s crucial that you rest as much as you can during the first 24 hour hours. You can also apply ice to the area to decrease swelling and take pain medication to help with the pain.
Depending on how extensive your procedure was, you can generally start consuming liquids a few hours afterward. This may include food such as beverages, pudding, and applesauce. You’ll be able to gradually progress to harder foods after about a week.
Smoking can cause infection or dry socket after tooth extraction, and we strongly advise you to avoid smoking for at least 48 hours after the procedure.
If everything runs smoothly, you will most likely recover within seven to ten days. Recovery time may be lengthened if complications occur.
Since your socket is exposed after a tooth is extracted, an infection may occur. If this happens, Dr. Syed will clean out the area and prescribe you antibiotics.
To ensure you don’t feel any pain during the procedure, the area will be numbed and you may be given a strong anesthetic.
You may experience pain while recovering, but you’ll be given pain medication to relieve this.
Tooth extraction can affect the teeth surrounding it feeling pressure during recovery may be normal. Contact your doctor is symptoms become severe.
Schedule an Appointment with Dr. Syed
If you’re experiencing severe decay, injury, or overcrowding, tooth extraction may be a necessary procedure for you.
Contact us in Wilmington, DE to have all your questions and concerns addressed. Missing teeth can lead to additional issues, which is why Dr. Syed may recommend dental implants to replace your extracted teeth.