Our goals as dentists are to preserve and promote healthy teeth. Your teeth really are vital to your health. Unfortunately, sometimes, extractions become unavoidable.
There are a number of reasons when an extraction may become necessary.
Wisdom Teeth – these are the teeth in the very far back of our gums. Wisdom teeth develop and stay dormant below the gums for many years. As our wisdom teeth begin to reach maturity, they can have a negative impact on the teeth next to them for a number of reasons. If they are not ideally positioned to grow in, they can cause other teeth to shift to make room for growth. This is what we refer to as “overcrowding.” The shifting over time causes other teeth to become crooked because now they are being pushed out of place to make room for the wisdom teeth that aren’t growing in properly. It is during the process that they begin erupting that they can become painful. Another concern is gum irritation and decay. Because they are so far back in the mouth and, more often than not, they don’t grow in perfectly straight, they can become very hard to reach and clean. Not everyone needs to have their wisdom teeth extracted. However, you will want your dentist to keep a watch on these as they develop to avoid future dental problems.
Fractured/Broken Tooth — a tooth can fracture or actually break in such a way that leaves the tooth unsavable. The good news is that not all tooth fractures necessitate an extraction. A dentist will not know the health of the tooth until she/he has an xray to evaluate the tooth and makes an extraction necessary.
Bone Loss and Extensive Decay can sometimes play a role, as well, in the need to extract a tooth. Bone loss can silently occur over time and gradually a tooth becomes mobile or loose.
We invite you to schedule a Limited Exam and Single Xray to start the process to discuss extraction of a single tooth or a Full Mouth Exam and Xrays to discuss extraction of wisdom teeth. With this information, we can evaluate your extraction concerns and together discuss your treatment options.