When Does A Broken Tooth Need To Be Extracted?

Do you fear that visiting a dentist would mean losing your natural tooth? Tooth extractions are among the most dreaded dental procedures in dentistry, even though they are necessary for preserving good oral health. The good news is that dentists cannot recommend tooth extractions unless when necessary. Besides, modern dentistry allows painless tooth extractions, so you do not have to yield to dental anxieties and phobias.

What Is a Tooth Extraction?

It is a dental procedure for permanently removing a tooth. The procedure helps treat various dental problems for the greater good of the oral cavity. Tooth extractions can target baby teeth and permanent adult teeth.

A Few Signs That Tooth Extraction Is Necessary for A Broken Tooth:

Tooth extractions are not the order of business in dentistry. The dentist will often explore other treatment options before permanent tooth removal.

A broken or cracked tooth treatment does not always need to be an extraction procedure. Sometimes the dentist may recommend alternative reparative solutions like root canal therapy.

However, the following signs necessitate a tooth extraction for a broken tooth:

1. Overcrowded mouth – overcrowding occurs when you have more teeth in your mouth than the available space in your jawbone. Usually, it could be because you have naturally big teeth than usual. However, some patients have an overcrowded mouth because they have more teeth than the standard, usually when they fail to extract baby teeth in good time. Part of your orthodontic treatment will involve removing one or more teeth before wearing bands and braces to reposition the rest.
2. Infection – tooth infections can severely compromise your dental health. The most common type of infection is a dental cavity. Tooth decay slowly but surely damages your teeth. Without early intervention, the tooth structure will be too compromised with the infection to be saved. Treating such a problem necessitates an extraction procedure.
3. Damaged tooth structure – sometimes, the damage to your tooth is too significant for reparative dental measures. For example, after a dental injury, the trauma may severely break your tooth, necessitating the best treatment for it is a dental extraction.

Getting Broken Teeth Extracted at Heavenly Smile Dentist

Dental extractions at Heavenly Smiles Dentist typically entail rocking a tooth back and forth to loosen it from the jawbone. Since the procedure can be painful, your attending dentist will numb your mouth with local anesthesia before beginning the extraction process.

However, not all tooth extractions are the same. Sometimes, our dentists have had to perform more intricate tooth extractions. For example, a broken-tooth-at-gum-line extraction may entail cutting the gums to expose more tooth structure since the visible portion is too small to clutch for a typical procedure.

From there, the dentist can surgically extract the remnants of the tooth. This type of tooth extraction procedure is also necessary when removing impacted teeth. For such treatment protocols, our dental team will incorporate sedation dentistry. It entails medication that will calm your nerves, causing you to remain still and relaxed throughout your treatment. You can liaise with your attending dentist regarding your preferences to be awake or asleep during your tooth removal procedure.

Other Cases When You Need a Tooth Extraction

Other than a broken tooth, your dentist in Poway will recommend a tooth extraction under the following conditions:

1. Gum disease – an infection in your gums can compromise the steadiness and stability of teeth. Over time, gum disease progresses and advances to a critical stage that deteriorates the health of the gums and jawbone. The effects will be evident when your teeth start loosening and even falling. Part of gum disease treatment is dental extraction.
2. Impacted teeth – an impacted tooth is typically stuck under the gum tissue. The whole tooth could be underneath the gums, but mostly, impacted teeth are partially stuck. It is common for wisdom teeth, the last set of molars, to erupt in an adult mouth. Since they grow in a tight space, they are more likely to be impacted than other natural teeth. Treatment requires tooth extraction.