At East Longmeadow Family Dental Center, we always strive to save your natural teeth. No matter your situation, our main goal is to preserve the health of your smile using innovative dental treatment and care. Unfortunately, we can’t always save every tooth. Due to factors like gum disease, broken teeth, or severe decay, we may need to perform a dental extraction. Gum disease and decay can spread throughout your smile, infecting gum tissue and damaging bone and other teeth. When solutions like a root canal or periodontitis treatment don’t do the job, we will resort to extraction.
While a dental extraction may sound scary, we strive to make them as comfortable as possible, leaving you with less pain post-procedure instead of more. Visit East Longmeadow Family Dental Center today to learn if you need a dental extraction to save your smile.
Why Perform a Dental Extraction?
If we always try to save your natural teeth, then why would we perform a dental extraction?
In some cases, removing a tooth is the only option to save your other teeth or to relieve pain! Common causes for a tooth extraction include:
Severe decay: Some teeth decay beyond the help of other procedures like fillings or crowns. If your tooth is in constant pain and the decay is spreading to your surrounding teeth, we may have to remove the problem tooth to protect the integrity of your smile.- Advanced periodontitis: In earlier stages, gum disease is treatable through deep cleanings, scaling, and root planning treatments. However, the more advanced the disease is, the less reversible the effects. If the bone and gum tissue surrounding a tooth is too damaged, your tooth may fall out, or we may extract it to prevent further issues.
- Problematic wisdom teeth: Your third set of molars—also called wisdom teeth—may not need to be removed. However, we have to remove them if they are causing pain or trouble with your smile. At East Longmeadow Family Dental Center, we perform dental extractions on wisdom teeth routinely, but we will refer you to an oral surgeon for wisdom teeth that are impacted.
- Broken teeth: While some broken teeth can be saved through other treatments, split teeth cannot be. If you suffer dental trauma and your broken tooth is not repairable, we will extract it to preserve your ability to chew and prevent further dental issues.
If you believe you need a dental extraction, visit East Longmeadow Family Dental Center for a free consultation! We will examine your smile and determine your next best step.
Replace Your Missing Teeth
After a dental extraction, you may wonder what your next step should be. While some prefer to leave the gap in your smile, we don’t recommend this. After an extraction, your jawbone will undergo a process known as bone resorption.
Natural teeth have roots that stimulate the jaw when you bite or chew. When missing teeth, you lose some of this stimulation, causing your jawbone to lose mass and volume over time! As your bone resorbs, you may notice excessive wrinkling around your mouth, sunken cheeks, and even a change in facial structure. The solution? Dental Implants!
Dental implants are titanium posts we place into your jawbone to support restorations and act as artificial tooth roots. This way, your smile can stay full and functional while your jawbone remains healthy. Using dental implants, we can place a dental crown to replace a single tooth, a dental bridge to replace a row of missing teeth or a full denture supported by implants.
East Longmeadow Family Dental Center offers traditional and mini dental implants, both with their own uses. However, when we can, we prefer to use mini dental implants because of the numerous benefits they provide patients like you!
Visit East Longmeadow Family Dental Center To Save Your Smile!
When your tooth is beyond saving, trust East Longmeadow Family Dental Center to extract it. With our innovative technology and compassionate care, you can trust us to perform your dental extraction with your comfort in mind. Post extraction, we may recommend that you replace your missing tooth with a dental implant to preserve the health of your jawbone and smile.
Book a free consultation to learn how we can help you today!
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