Tooth Extraction Preparation and Types

Tooth Extraction Preparation

You will be asked about your past medical health and about your dental history as well. An X-ray will be taken by the dentist of the affected area in order to plan the best method of tooth removal.

Some of the healthcare professionals might prescribe antibiotics that are to be taken pre and post surgery. This practice usually varies as per the dentist or the oral surgeon you are consulting.

If you are prepared for a conscious sedation or a deeper anesthesia, wear short sleeved clothes or sleeveless ones that can easily be rolled up. This allows an easy access to the intravenous (IV) line that needs to be placed in your vein.

You will also be told that you must not eat or even drink anything for at least 6 to 8 hours before the surgery. You should also make sure to have someone by your side who will drive you back home after the surgical procedure.

Tooth Extraction – How it is done?

Extractions are of two types:

    * A simple method of extraction can be performed on a tooth and can be seen in your mouth. General dentists prefer to do simple extractions. Most of these cases are done with the help of a local anesthetic injection, with or without any anti-anxiety drug. In case of a simple extraction, a dentist will clutch the damaged tooth with a pair of forceps and will loosen it by moving the pair of forceps backward and forward. After this, the tooth will be pulled out. In some cases, the dentist might also use a dental ‘elevator’ to slacken the tooth. An elevator is a dental instrument that actually fits between the tooth and gum.

    * Surgical extraction is needed in case if the teeth cannot be easily seen. These teeth might either not have come up yet or might have broken off in such a way that half of the teeth still remains in the gum line. In order to see and to remove such a tooth, the dentist or the oral surgeon will have to cut and then pull the gums back.

Surgical extraction procedures are usually done by the oral surgeons. These procedures are conducted under local anesthesia (given as injections) and you may also opt for conscious sedation. Patients with medical complications and children are given general anesthesia. In case of a surgical extraction, the dentist must make an incision in the gum in order to locate the tooth.

In critical cases, the tooth will be cut into pieces and then removed.

If you are getting a tooth extraction and you are to receive a conscious sedation, you might also be given steroids in the IV line to help lessen the swelling caused after the surgery.

If you need to remove all the four wisdom teeth, you have to get it done at the same time. The topmost teeth can be easily removed, but the lower ones might prove to be difficult.