While fillings and crowns serve to help restore teeth and preserve them, occasionally oral health concerns arise too severe to be handled with restorations. Instead, safeguarding your smile against major oral health complications means removing a tooth altogether. In today’s blog, your Olathe, KS, dentists explain why this isn’t a procedure to fear, and how we address the gaps in your smile.
When We Prescribe Removal
We may suggest this for severely damaged, decayed, or infected teeth. In these situations, not removing the tooth could mean the spread of infection and worsening discomfort for your smile. We may also take a tooth out that has been loosened due to gum disease, or removal could mean room to reposition the rest of the smile and address severe cases of misalignment. We could also remove impacted teeth, or baby teeth that have not fallen out on schedule. Finally, a major reason is to take out wisdom teeth before they erupt. Often, the eruption of wisdom teeth in our late teens or early 20s could lead to serious discomfort, misalignment, painful partial eruption, and other serious symptoms.
Ensuring Your Comfort
We always take steps to ensure your comfort throughout the procedure. In addition to a local anesthesia, our team also offers dental sedation to help you enter a calm and relaxed state. You will be conscious and able to respond to the dentist, but will have little to no memory of the procedure itself. Our team will monitor your vitals and provide detailed aftercare instructions once the sedation wears off.
Recovery
At home, you will take any prescribed medications as instructed, and for the first day or two, try to avoid the use of straws or enjoy soft food items. Avoid on vigorous exercise for the first day, and don’t prod the extraction site with your tongue. During a follow-up visit, we will make sure everything is healing as it should and also remove your sutures.
Tooth Replacement
While wisdom teeth won’t require replacement, other issues could mean gaps in your smile that impact stability and health. To replace your lost teeth, we could discuss placing dental bridges, dentures, or dental implants. Each one will be natural-looking and durable, able to return function, health, and beauty to your smile. If you have any questions about the extraction process, your recovery, or about tooth replacement, then please contact our team today. We look forward to helping you enjoy better oral health in 2021!
Do You Have Questions About Extractions?
Our team uses restorative dentistry and oral surgery to help protect the stability of your smile. For more information on protecting your oral health or to schedule a dental consultation, call E-Care Dentistry, PA in Olathe, KS, today at 913-210-1701. We also proudly serve patients from Overland Park, Lenexa, and all surrounding communities.