How We Extract Your Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom teeth arrive in our late teens and early 20s, and could threaten your smile. To preserve your smile, we can remove these teeth entirely. In today’s blog, your Cleveland, TX, dentist talks about how we extract wisdom teeth, and when other situations arise that require a tooth’s removal.

Wisdom Teeth

These are up to four new molars that arrive as we approach adulthood. Since there is rarely room for them, this could mean major complications for your smile. You could develop a painful partial eruption known as an impaction, as well as dental misalignment, dental infections, or even discomfort. To avoid these and preserve the health, function, and appearance of your smile, our team will recommend extracting them, typically before they even erupt!

Other Reasons for Removal

We could also extract a tooth that is too damaged to be repaired with a crown, or one with decay or infection too severe to be addressed with a restoration or root canal. Taking them out prevents the spread of infection to other parts of the smile. Removal could also be necessary for teeth loosened by gum disease, or to make room for orthodontic treatment. Extraction could also be recommended in some cases to help boost chewing function and bite balance. If you’ve lost a significant number of teeth, we could take out the last few to pave the way for dentures.

Ensuring Your Comfort

Our team will always strive to keep you relaxed and comfortable. In addition to administering a local anesthetic to the area being treated, we can also offer sedation. Dental sedation helps you enter a calm and relaxed state with little to no memory of the procedure. Some may leave you a little groggy, so be sure you have a friend or family member on hand to bring you home afterward. The removal process itself is pretty simple. We will take detailed CT images to identify the position of the tooth, and to plan the process. We then use forceps to gently extract the tooth in question, and suture the area closed afterward. This takes as little as 30 to 40 minutes in some cases!

Replacement Options

Wisdom teeth don’t require replacement, but losing a tooth to other factors could leave a gap behind that threatens your overall oral health and appearance. Fortunately, we can discuss prosthetics to fill these gaps, such as bridges, dentures, and even advanced dental implants. If you have any questions, then give us a call today.

Talk To Your Cleveland, TX Dentist About Oral Surgery

We would like to help protect your smile by removing diseased or decayed teeth. For more information on the steps we offer to gently remove a tooth, then contact your Cleveland, TX, dentist, Dr. Uhrenholdt, by calling (281) 592-1234.