Sometimes the best thing to do when handling severe tooth pain is to simply extract the infected tooth.
Dr. Fellner might choose to perform an extraction for the following reasons, among others:
- There’s extra teeth or baby teeth that are preventing the healthy growth of adult teeth
- A tooth is fractured or malformed
- Tooth roots have been loosened because of advanced periodontal disease
- The tooth has been infected with severe decay
- The patient is being prepared for orthodontic treatment
During this procedure, a precautionary x-ray will be taken of the teeth that are bothering you. Once Dr. Fellner has discussed treatment options with you and extraction has been agreed to be the best method, you will receive a local anesthetic. This will help numb you to any pain during the procedure. A tool called the elevator will be used to lift the tooth and loosen the ligaments and gum tissue that are at the base of the tooth. Lastly, our doctors will gently rock the tooth back and forth with a pair of forceps in order to break it free from the ligaments and gum tissue. For teeth that are particularly stubborn, the tooth might need to be broken up into smaller pieces before removal.
In some cases, you might need stitches to close up the socket. Typically, though, packing the socket with gauze and placing pressure on the area will suffice during healing.