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tooth extraction procedure

Tooth Extraction: What To Expect And How You Should Care For It

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You may get a tooth extracted for a number of reasons. You may be suffering from a chipped or broken tooth that could lead to oral infections or even injuries. You may be suffering from a badly infected or decayed tooth that cannot be healed. Or, you may even have a wisdom tooth that’s been troubling you! Whatever the reason is, just know that the procedure does not hurt as much!

Thus, if you’re suffering from either of the mentioned conditions, do consult your dentist. But before you walk in for tooth extraction, know how it’s done to help you anticipate the procedure and thereby, make you a little more comfortable with it!

What to expect

  • The best part comes first! You’d be anesthetized before the dentist proceeds with anything. So no matter what you read in the following steps, the physical pain you’d experience during the dental procedure would only be as much as that you’d experience while reading the following steps!
  • If the tooth that you need to get extracted is properly visible in the mouth, the tooth will simply be rocked back and forth until it becomes loose enough for the dentist to pull it out. To loosen it, some surrounding gum tissues that hold the tooth in its place may be removed.
  • For a tooth that is too hard to uproot, the surgeon may even consider disconnecting the root of the tooth from the gums by detaching it from the periodontal ligament (the ligament that holds the tooth in the socket). In some instances, a dentist may even break the tooth down into pieces and then extract it, if it is too hard to extract otherwise.
  • However, if the tooth that you need to extract is not properly visible outside the gums, the surgeon must resort to the incision. The gum tissues will be cut through to create an incision flap. It is through this incision flap that the surgeon will detach the tooth from the periodontal ligament. Once the tooth has been extracted, the flap is stitched back, usually with self-dissolving stitches.

How you should care for it 

  • Once the surgery is over, you may refrain from brushing and flossing for the first few days. However, this could worsen the situation. Poor oral hygiene at this stage might infect the healing gum tissues.
  • Do not chew on solid food for at least a week and a half.
  • Rinse your mouth with salt water every night before going to bed, for the first couple of weeks.
  • Apply ice packs over your cheek if it’s swollen, 10 minutes at a time.
  • Do not smoke or drink for the first couple of weeks.

If any of it looked frightening to you, remember the first step involved in the extraction process. Even better, do what you can to ensure that you never have to be in such a situation! Drink lots of water, eat healthy, and remember to brush and floss twice a day!

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