Extracting Your Troubling Tooth without Troubling You

Teeth are generally extracted when the patient is in pain and wants to relieve the pain as quickly, permanently, and inexpensively as possible. Teeth are also extracted when they are: irrepairable, decayed below the gum line, worn out of bones due to disease, or too crowded to repair without extraction.

Extraction of a tooth that is visible in the mouth is generally non-surgical. Under local anaesthesia, the tooth is lifted using an elevator. The tooth is rocked back and forth using dental forceps until the periodontal (gum) ligament is sufficiently broken and the supporting alveolar bone is adequately widened to make the tooth loose enough to remove.

A tooth that is broken under the gum line or not fully erupted is not easily accessible. It needs a surgical extraction. By doing an incision, soft tissues covering the tooth and bone are elevated. With a drill or osteotome, some overlying and/or surrounding bone tissues are removed. The tooth may be split into multiple pieces to facilitate its removal.