Tooth Extraction

Tooth extraction is a reconstructive dental procedure to remove teeth that are damaged from decay or to make more room in the jaw before orthodontic treatment.

A Good Candidate for Tooth Extraction

Any patient whose tooth has been damaged by decay is a possible candidate for tooth extraction. Tooth extraction is often needed if root canal treatment has failed to stop the spread of decay. Dentists may recommend tooth extraction for patients with misaligned teeth due to overcrowding in the jaw.

Broken teeth often need to be extracted to reduce pain and to allow dentists to replace the damaged tooth with dental implants.

Tooth Extraction Procedure

Dentists first numb the area surrounding the tooth to be extracted. An incision is made in the gum to reveal the tooth root and the decayed tooth is pulled out using dental forceps.

Patients who require dental implants to replace missing teeth will have to return for a second dental appointment to insert the implant once the tooth extraction site has healed.

Wisdom tooth extraction may require slightly more invasive dental surgery to remove impacted wisdom teeth from the gum. Tooth extraction procedures normally take 20 minutes to complete.