Removing Damaged And Infected Teeth
With Tooth Extractions
If one of your teeth is damaged, decayed, or unhealthy, it may need to be extracted. Our Fort Mill family dentist has been performing minimally-invasive basic extractions for years and is always sure to be as gentle as possible if you are in need of tooth removal. If it is necessary to remove one of your teeth, we offer to all of our patients, so if you are feeling nervous about having a tooth extracted, you’re sure to get the care you need from our compassionate team.
Understanding the process
basic tooth extractions
The process of having a tooth extracted at our office is quite simple. First, your tooth and gum area will be numbed, cleaned, and disinfected. After this, Dr. Luck will use a special tool called a “dental elevator” to loosen the tooth in its socket. Once the tooth has been sufficiently loosened, Dr. Luck will remove it by the root. Then, the socket is cleaned, disinfected, and sutured shut. This process typically only takes about 5 minutes per tooth.
Why Would I Need A Tooth Extraction?
common conditions & causes
There are a number of reasons that you may need one of your teeth extracted. The most common reason, by far, is the improper growth of wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth grow into our mouths during our late teens and early twenties, and can often cause dental health issues like tooth infections, impacted teeth, and undesirable changes in your alignment and bite.
Tooth extractions may also be used to remove one or more teeth that have been seriously damaged by tooth decay oror an oral injury. Extraction of one or more teeth may also be required before placing a dental implant, or when a full-arch denture is being designed.
Site Preservation After Extraction
Prepare For Dental Implants
Dr. Luck offers site preservation for dental implants. This procedure involves a specialized bone graft, which is placed into the socket where the extracted tooth used to be. Then, a special collagen membrane is used to cover the socket, and it’s sutured shut.
This procedure is used to protect the bone surrounding the socket (also known as the alveolar ridge). This treatment is ideal if you plan on replacing your missing tooth with a dental implant in the future, as it helps protect the area and ensure that the bone is healthy enough for implant surgery.
schedule your appointment today
WITH LUCK FAMILY DENTAL
If you think your wisdom teeth are erupting improperly, or you believe that one of your teeth may be damaged, or if you are preparing for a dental implant or a denture, Dr. Luck is here to help. She can provide you with a comprehensive oral exam, and extract one or more of your teeth if the procedure is necessary to preserve your oral health. Give us a call today at (803) 548-6370 to schedule your consultation today, or stop by our office.
Are Tooth Extractions
Painful?
During your tooth extraction procedure, you will not feel any pain or discomfort. This is because Dr. Luck will use a powerful local anesthetic to numb the nerves near your treatment site. Dr. Luck has performed hundreds of extractions, and is an expert in the process of oral numbing. Rest assured that you will not feel any sensations of pain or discomfort throughout your tooth extraction procedure at Luck Family Dental.
We also offer sedation dentistry at our Fort Mill office. With laughing gas sedation, you can fight back against feelings of anxiety and fear, and you’ll feel a bit more disconnected from what’s happening around you, so you can relax and feel more comfortable during your extraction procedure.
However, tooth extraction is still a major oral surgery. So, as you may expect, you will experience some pain and discomfort after your treatment is over, and your numbing and sedation wear off. This will usually peak and begin to fade after a few days. Dr. Luck will give you instructions on how to manage your pain and ensure you heal quickly from your tooth extraction in Fort Mill.
How Soon After Tooth Extractions
Can I Eat?
You may be hungry after your extraction. However, you should not eat right after your treatment. You need to wait a few hours for your numbing to wear off. Bleeding will also be significantly reduced a few hours post-op, which is also a good thing.
After your numbing wears off, you can eat. But you need to eat a diet of liquid foods for about 24 hours after your treatment, such as smoothies, milk, pudding, brothy soup, and so on. You can move on to slightly thicker foods after a day or two, such as mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, bananas, and scrambled eggs.
You may feel bad or nauseous after your procedure, but it is important to eat and drink as much as possible. Proper nutrition and hydration after your tooth extraction will ensure your body has what it needs to heal and recover more quickly.
How Long
Does It Take To Heal?
About a week after your procedure, your extraction site will have healed significantly. After about two weeks, it may still feel tender and a little sore if you push on it, but it should be completely healed if you’ve followed Dr. Luck’s instructions. By this time, new gum tissue and bone tissue will have grown over the extraction site, completely sealing it up.
However, the healing and recovery time may depend on a few different factors. If you’re an older person, for example, it may take you longer to recover than it would take a teenager or a young adult, since their bodies tend to heal more quickly.
It also will take longer to heal from a surgical (complex) extraction compared to a basic (simple) extraction. Dr. Leah Luck will tell you more about what you can expect before your extraction procedure begins, and she will ensure you have all of the information to recover as quickly as possible.