Reasons for Tooth Extractions

We regularly extract teeth at Vista Dental in Medicine Hat, but we always give the decision to extract serious consideration. There are a few reasons why we might recommend it, and we thought it would be helpful to patients who are nervous if they understood what those are.

The teeth that are most often extracted are wisdom teeth and premolars. Modern people’s mouths often don’t have room for all their teeth. When kids are being prepared for orthodontic correction, it is common for a set of premolars to be removed so that the remaining teeth will be able to form a perfectly-aligned arch. Wisdom teeth often do not emerge until late in adolescence, after the window for major orthodontic correction has closed. They are especially likely to get stuck and to push other teeth out of alignment while causing soreness and creating a difficult-to-clean home for bacteria.

Adult teeth can also become impacted if the baby teeth ahead of them don’t fall out. Even when they are able to emerge, the overcrowding and awkward positioning of the baby teeth will create a trap for sugar. Occasionally, a tooth might be too infected or cracked to be saved. This has gotten rarer as root canal techniques have improved, but it can happen, and the surrounding gum tissue may be too weak to support a tooth. However, dental roots help to stabilize the jaw bone, so we would usually try to restore a broken crown.

Vista Dental is located at 7 Strachan Bay SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1B 4Y2, Canada. To schedule an appointment, call 403-548-7077 or visit Vista Dental MH.

 

Dental Instruments

You’re probably familiar with some of the commonly used instruments in dental offices, but do you know their names? At Vista Dental in Medicine Hat, we want our patients to feel comfortable with their care, and we believe that people feel better when they have the words to describe things.

During the regular cleaning, our hygienists will use a handheld mirror to see inside a patient’s mouth and an explorer to break up calculus on the teeth. The explorer is a hooked metal instrument and is also used to test the stability of enamel and whether there are infections in the gum pockets. Scalers are flattened hooks used to remove debris from below the gum line. A hose called an evacuator is used periodically to suction away broken up calculus.

The most common issue we encounter during routine cleanings is tooth decay. Before removing it, we’ll deliver a localized anesthetic through a syringe. Our Waterlase instrument can be used to remove decayed enamel without the heat and vibrations of a conventional drill. The filling material is applied using a variety of blunt-tipped instruments called burnishers, which are also used to contour it to fit perfectly with the patient’s teeth. Should a tooth need to be removed entirely, it is wiggled with a long, shallow spoon called an elevator until it can be lifted out with reverse-action pliers.

Vista Dental is located at 7 Strachan Bay SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1B 4Y2, Canada. To schedule an appointment, call 403-548-7077 or visit Vista Dental MH.

Teeth Sectioning

Patients who need tooth extractions can count on the experience and expertise of the doctors at Vista Dental in Medicine Hat. Generally speaking, extractions are something to be avoided, but wisdom teeth often need to be removed because they are threatening the alignment of the rest of the teeth or are too large to push through the gum line. Rather than removing an entire large tooth at once, dentists sometimes employ sectioning.

There are several reasons why a dentist might not want to remove a whole wisdom tooth at once. It could be because there isn’t a large enough natural gap in the gum pocket for an impacted tooth to be moved through and the dentist wants to reduce the need for incisions. It could also be that the tooth is at an inconvenient angle and located close enough to a major nerve for a dentist to not want to risk using a large amount of force. In any case, sectioning is only done once a patient has been numbed and safely sedated. Using a dental drill, the dentist will cut the tooth into sections while keeping it under a stream of water. This will prevent the drill’s heat from damaging the mouth. Smaller tooth sections can be maneuvered more easily and pulled out with less force.

Vista Dental is located at 7 Strachan Bay SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1B 4Y2, Canada. To schedule an appointment, call 403-548-7077 or visit Vista Dental MH.

 

Dry Sockets

While the doctors at Vista Dental in Medicine Hat are highly trained and experienced in root canals, there are times teeth have to be extracted. Although most patients have quick and easy recoveries, the most common problem they encounter is a dry socket. These are particularly likely following extractions which required incisions into gum or bone tissue, as sometimes happens with wisdom teeth.

When a tooth is removed, the patient will bleed a little. The blood should be allowed to clot so that it can seal off and protect the empty socket, preventing infection and dryness. The instructions a patient will be given after the operation are mostly meant to ensure that the clot does not get knocked loose prematurely, as might happen if the patient sips through a straw. The doctors will also need to know if the patient is on medications that may interfere with clotting.

Empty sockets usually close quickly; the patient is at the greatest risk of dryness during the first two days after surgery. If they experience severe pain, they should schedule an emergency appointment. Our office will be able to clean the wound and provide medicated dressings, as well as antibiotics and painkillers.

Vista Dental is located at 7 Strachan Bay SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1B 4Y2, Canada. To schedule an appointment, call 403-548-7077 or visit VistaDentalMH.Ca.