Essential Information about Dental Extractions
Dental extractions are performed by dentists and oral surgeons for several reasons. You may have a painful wisdom tooth or one severely damaged by decay. Sometimes extractions are essential to make space in the mouth for orthodontic treatments or prosthetics.
Oral surgeons perform tooth extractions if your situation is complicated and are usually involved in removing the third molars or wisdom teeth. If you are undergoing extraction for any reason from the Oxnard dental group, you will likely consult with the dentist or oral surgeon before the procedure.
During the consultation, inquiries are made by the dentist about your entire medical history and medications that you are taking. In some cases, you are advised not to have certain medicines in the days leading to the procedure. You also receive prescriptions for medications to have on the day of the extraction.
What Precisely Is Dental Extraction?
A dental extraction is the removal of a tooth from its socket. Dentists and oral surgeons recommend tooth extractions for several reasons, some of which include dental cavities, gum disease, infections, trauma or injury to the tooth and surrounding bone, wisdom teeth problems, preparing for dental braces, and preparing for dental prosthesis.
What Kind of Extraction Can You Expect?
The type of tooth extraction you can expect depends on the shape, size, position, and location of the tooth in the mouth. Dental surgeons classify extractions as simple or surgical. Simple extractions are performed on visible teeth above the gum line enabling dentists to remove the tooth in one piece.
Surgical extractions are complicated because the oral surgeon must remove gum tissue and bone or both. Oral surgeons sometimes must remove the tooth in pieces.
Wisdom teeth, the last teeth to erupt, are generally the first needing extractions because they are impacted and remain below the gum line in many people. Wisdom teeth extraction is a standard procedure in oral surgery.
Aren’t Tooth Extractions Painful?
Tooth extractions were undoubtedly painful earlier when inexperienced dentists and the lack of modern anesthesia prevented dental professionals from providing painless treatments. Fortunately, things have changed dramatically, allowing you to have your teeth removed without going through any dental anxiety.
When you visit the dentist in Oxnard for dental extraction, you receive adequate anesthesia to numb the area in your mouth, ensuring you don’t feel any pain. If you are incredibly anxious about the extraction, you can request more potent anesthesia happily provided by the dental office near you. However, it helps if you discuss your dental anxiety with the dentist performing the extraction without hesitation because they can decide on the appropriate level of sedation you require.
Managing Yourself after Dental Extraction
After undergoing an extraction in Oxnard, you will likely experience pain and discomfort as the anesthesia begins wearing off. Given below are some health care tips you can follow to promote healing after dental extractions.
Following an extraction, the dentist or oral surgeon places gauze over the extraction site, asking you to bite down on it. Biting down on the gauze with consistent pressure helps control bleeding. If you have undergone a surgical extraction, the bleeding will likely continue for a couple of days.
You no longer experience any numbness in your mouth after the anesthesia wears off but will experience some pain. Dentists prescribe pain medications or recommend over-the-counter painkillers to alleviate your discomfort.
Swelling on your cheeks is normal, but you can start using ice packs on your cheeks immediately after you get home. Remember, do not use the ice packs for lengthy periods limiting them merely to 10-minute intervals.
Dental extractions are an excellent time to get some rest. You must avoid any strenuous activities for at least 24 hours after the procedure to ensure you don’t dislodge the blood clot.
You must avoid using a straw for drinking, spitting vigorously, touching the extraction site with your tongue, or drinking alcoholic beverages and smoking. These habits can delay the healing process.
You can have soft foods on the day of the extraction and gradually reintroduce solid foods into your diet, trying to chew on the other side of your mouth.
Dental extractions don’t require you to refrain from brushing and flossing so long as you are careful to avoid the extraction site.
Dental extractions are standard procedures performed on many adults and teenagers. Unlike earlier, the procedures are comfortable instead of painful, although they undoubtedly cause discomfort. However, if the process is recommended by your dentist, it likely will benefit your mouth than cause any harm.