If you’ve suffered dental trauma or are living with a toothache, you may need a tooth extraction to truly preserve your smile. A damaged or abscessed tooth can quickly lead to more serious issues affecting your other teeth, oral health, and even in some cases, your physical health if the cause is gum disease. At Woodbridge Periodontal and Implant Center, we’ll always first recommend treating infection and saving a natural tooth with services like deep cleanings or a root canal. However, if unresponsive, removal may be the only way to restore your health.
Our periodontist is uniquely qualified to remove teeth and has the skill to minimize damage to your bone and gums.
After any tooth extraction, it’s critical that you take special steps to ensure the healing process goes as it should. A blood clot typically forms over an empty tooth socket during healing. If this doesn’t happen or if the blood clot is removed, the bone and nerves below the socket become exposed. This results in a painful complication called dry socket. You can prevent dry socket and ensure a smooth recovery by following the post-extraction guidelines we’ll review in detail with you after your surgery.
Your tooth extraction shouldn’t be the last stage of your treatment, though. We recommend many patients replace their extracted tooth, and generally encourage dental implants. The only permanent tooth replacement, dental implants look and act just like natural teeth due to their similar structure—post (tooth root) and restoration (tooth crown). This tooth will look identical to your natural teeth and provide all the same functional benefits. It’ll be as if you’d never had a tooth extracted in the first place!
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