Our goal at Alphington Dental Care is always to help you keep your natural teeth as healthy and attractive as possible. However, there are some situations that warrant extraction of teeth in order to correct certain issues or to prevent future problems. For instance, you may have a tooth that has been damaged due to decay or perhaps there is an impacted wisdom tooth that is causing a toothache. Even for children, sometimes a tooth may need to be removed or extracted under certain circumstances.

Our experienced dentists at Alphington Dental Care will be able to assess your tooth and determine whether an extraction is required as well as decide the safest way for the extraction to be undertaken. A tooth extraction is a safe procedure when done by an experienced dentist. In many cases the surgery to remove a tooth is minor and can be performed with a local anaesthetic. The tooth is not fixed rigidly to the bone, rather it is attached via a ligament which is primarily a network of fibres. If the tooth is carefully manipulated these fibres can be detached and the tooth can be removed without too many problems. Front teeth which have only a single straight root are easier to remove than molars which have multiple roots. The teeth in the back of the mouth are also a little more difficult to access, therefore, making the tooth extraction process more complex. Sometimes an impacted wisdom tooth may need to be removed by cutting into the gum tissue to get access to the tooth. More complex cases may need to be referred to an oral surgeon for safe treatment.

What are some of the common reasons for extracting a tooth?

At Alphington Dental Care, we suggest tooth extraction for a few reasons as follows:

Trauma or dental disease:
Whether it is due to physical trauma or a dental disease, there are many ways to try and save a damaged tooth. You can undergo a root canal treatment or get a dental crown, but there are certain times when even these methods are not enough to save your natural teeth. In these cases, it may be better to completely extract the tooth and replace it with a dental implant.

Wisdom teeth: For many people wisdom teeth can cause problems, particularly if they are impacted. If the gum is partially covering the wisdom tooth, a gum infection may occur causing toothache. Healthy neighbouring teeth can also be damaged because food and plaque trap around the partially erupted tooth. It is a good idea to have your wisdom teeth assessed, even if they are causing you no pain currently, to avoid future infections and damage to your other teeth.

Orthodontic treatment: Sometimes extractions are necessary to make space in the mouth so that the teeth can be aligned correctly. This situation is referred to as dental crowding. Patients with large teeth or small jaws will be more prone to develop crowding. By removing teeth, space is created to allow good alignment to be achieved with orthodontic treatment. The first premolars are the most commonly removed teeth to facilitate orthodontic treatment.

Baby teeth: Sometimes children may also need to have teeth removed. If a baby tooth is not in the right position the permanent tooth underneath it may have some trouble erupting normally. In such a situation, it is better to remove the baby tooth in order to prevent more extensive orthodontic treatment later on in life. Baby teeth are also very prone to decay so if not treated early may need extraction. This situation is not ideal as early loss of a baby tooth is more likely to lead to problems with the eruption of the adult teeth.

If you have a tooth that is causing problems, come in for a visit at Alphington Dental Care and our experienced dentists will suggest the best way forward after a thorough dental examination.