The picture looks painful and terrifying when you’re in the dentist’s chair and see extracting tools approaching your precious teeth. However, once the surgery and recovery are over, you’ll notice your extraction’s positive and wonderful-looking results. Dentists can explain what happens during tooth extractions in Decatur, AL, and how your smile and health benefit from such surgical procedures.
What Happens During a Tooth Extraction?
Due to trauma, overcrowding, or a severe tooth infection, some of your teeth might be past the point of no return, so the only viable option is tooth extraction. After ensuring you don’t have any oral problems that could cause complications, a dental professional will use local anesthesia to numb the area and remove the problematic tooth. If an infection is to blame for your extraction, your dentist must treat it once the tooth is out of the way.
When the procedure is over, and sedation wears off, you might experience bleeding, swelling, pain, and discomfort. If any of these symptoms remain after a few days or get worse over time, contact your dentist immediately and schedule a consultation. You can also follow some aftercare tips toward a speedy and more comfortable recovery, such as:
- Eating soft meals
- Avoiding tobacco
- Placing cold compresses or ice bags over your cheek
- Not chewing on ice or any hard foods
- Taking over-the-counter medication
What Can Tooth Extractions Do for Me?
Relieve Pain
The primary reason behind a tooth extraction is to prevent your teeth from causing more pain and discomfort. When you don’t prioritize the health of your smile, you invite harmful bacteria to feast on the food that remains between your teeth, causing plaque and tartar to form. Over time, mouth-wrecking substances reach deeper tooth layers like the root and pulp, resulting in a tooth abscess. Since such dental infections produce excruciating toothache, they hinder your everyday activities. If your dentist cannot save your pearly white and must extract it, you’ll feel no more pain once you’ve recovered.
Save Neighboring Teeth
Aside from being successful pain relievers, tooth extractions also save the rest of your teeth from infection. If you don’t deal with a tooth infection immediately, it can spread to other mouth sections and damage the remaining teeth, gums, and tongue. By visiting your dentist and extracting the root of the problem, your smile will be safe from the disease haunting your former tooth.
Give You a Straight Smile
More often than not, dentists extract teeth because they need to make room for other pearly whites and give you an aligned smile. When your mouth suffers from overcrowding, it doesn’t have enough space for your permanent teeth to erupt straight. Not only will crooked teeth affect the looks of your smile, but they’ll also make you more prone to dental problems, such as tooth decay or gum disease.
If, after an oral examination and X-ray, your dentist believes leaving your teeth be could cause a misalignment, they might suggest a tooth extraction. Once the surgery is over, your smile will be prettier, straighter, and healthier than ever.
Do You Need a Tooth Extraction in Decatur, AL?
Tooth extractions are scary at first glance, but they can relieve pain and improve your smile. If you’re in pain or believe a tooth extraction is long overdue, talk to our team of professional dentists today!