Although having a tooth extracted isn’t something easy to get excited about, the fact is that patients often feel tremendous pain relief upon the removal of a troublesome tooth. If your dentist recommends removing a tooth, it is likely causing discomfort already. Removing the tooth is the first step in restoring wellness to the affected area of the mouth.

If your tooth has suffered an injury, cracks in the structure of the tooth above or below the gum line could result in the tooth needing to be pulled. Similarly, an impact or trauma could break the tooth below the gum line putting tissues at risk.

Dental cavities which are too large to provide adequate support to the tooth may require removal to avoid painful breakage. Situations involving infection in the inner pulp of the tooth risk being transmitted to the blood and should be assessed to determine the need for root canal therapy or full removal.

Gingivitis which has progressed into its more severe form, periodontal disease, can often result in the necessary extraction of a tooth. As gingivitis-associated gum inflammation worsens, infection can spread to underlying tissues and bone. As more tissues are affected, teeth can become unstable due to lack of bone, ligament and gingival support.

Wisdom teeth typically emerge between the ages of 17 and 25. Although there are many instances in which these teeth emerge without complication, it is not unusual for wisdom teeth to interfere with their neighbours or cause discomfort. Being the last teeth to arrive, there is often not enough space in the mouth to accommodate what a wisdom tooth requires.

Wisdom teeth that do not fully emerge beyond the gumline and remain partially covered in gum tissue can be a source of chronic pain, inflammation or even infection. Other teeth may become trapped inside the bone or gum tissue, called ‘impacted’ wisdom teeth. Impacted teeth can interfere with the root systems of neighbouring teeth, causing degeneration, and may develop painful cysts.

In other cases, wisdom teeth are removed due to decay. As wisdom teeth are the farthest teeth to the back, difficulty accessing them can make them difficult to clean. In these cases, removal of the wisdom teeth may be suggested to protect the health of neighbouring teeth.

A tooth extraction might sound lengthy and invasive, but procedures for extracting teeth are efficient and pain-free thanks to local anesthetic. Apart from wisdom tooth extraction, which may require more advanced techniques, most teeth can be removed in just 3 steps.

We recommend choosing soft and cool foods for about a week following extraction to allow the wound to close and the area to heal. Consider foods such as puddings and Jell-O, scrambled eggs or cool smoothies to soothe the extraction site and protect it from injury when chewing. Forceful rinsing of the mouth and the use of straws should be avoided entirely during healing time. The sucking motion creates the potential for the protective blood clot that has formed in the socket to be removed, resulting in nerve exposure and pain. Smoking should be avoided for a minimum of 72 hours to avoid similar risk, and to avoid slowing healing by irritating tissues with smoke. Continue gently brushing and flossing your teeth as you normally would, avoiding the extraction site.