Tooth extraction is necessary for a variety of reasons, including tooth decay, broken teeth, gum disease, third molars, and other cosmetic reasons. If you aren’t sure about removing your teeth, there are alternatives such as pain medications and other antibiotics that could be short-term solutions. However, completely removing the tooth or teeth that are damaged and replacing them (whether it be with implants or otherwise) are great long-term solution where you won’t have to worry about any other pain or damage to your other teeth. What are the benefits of tooth extraction?
Pain Relief
If you’re experiencing pain in your teeth due to decay, damage, or crowding teeth – extraction can relieve you of that pain. Fortunately, the pain is alleviated practically immediately due to the anesthetic and the medication afterwards that is prescribed for you to not be able to feel any pain following the extraction.
Protection
If you leave a damaged tooth untreated, it could harm the tooth surrounding it. However, if you get the same damaged tooth extracted – you won’t have to worry about your other teeth. Extraction can serve as some protection for your other teeth because the damage won’t spread once the tooth is gone.
What To Expect
Depending on the severity of your teeth, your dentist may approach extracting your teeth in a couple different ways. Sometimes, your dentist will be able to remove your tooth without anesthesia and just use local anesthetic if it’s easy to get to. In other ways, you may have to be sedated to remove your tooth because they may not have fully erupted yet, or it could have broken off at your gum line, etc. In these cases, you should treat this extraction as an oral surgery and take proper precautions to ensure you’re comfortable following the procedure.
Afterwards, expect to eat soft and chewable foods so you won’t strain your incision site. However, the recovery is usually fairly simple and easy!
ABOUT YOUR CERRITOS, CA, ORAL SURGEON:
Dr. Shawn Hofkes and the staff at Cerritos Dental Surgery are highly qualified to address complex issues, including those that require oral surgery to correct. To schedule an appointment or consultation with Dr. Hofkes, contact us today by calling 562-584-4082. We proudly welcome patients of all ages from Cerritos, CA, and all surrounding communities, such as Lakewood, Long Beach, Buena Park, and more.
