When Tooth Removal is Necessary
While our team always attempts to save natural teeth, there are certain situations where that is not possible. Some of the common reasons patients need to undergo tooth extraction include:
While our team always attempts to save natural teeth, there are certain situations where that is not possible. Some of the common reasons patients need to undergo tooth extraction include:
- Trauma/injury – a blow sustained to teeth can often crack or fracture them in such a way that it’s impossible to retain the remaining structure.
- Disease/decay – while we will attempt root canal, antibiotics, and other procedures to remove infection and decay, when teeth are significantly weakened or infection begins to spread to surrounding teeth, extraction is necessary.
- Orthodontic crowding – before braces or other orthodontic treatment can begin, some patients need to have one or more teeth removed to prevent crowding and allow teeth to properly align.
- Impacted teeth – teeth that are unable to erupt due to the angle they develop, crowding, or other issues, may need to be extracted to prevent them from misaligning other teeth, decaying, or causing infection. This is most common with third molars (wisdom teeth).
- Wisdom Teeth Extractions – The most commonly extracted teeth are wisdom teeth. This third set of molars was an evolutionary development from a time when the human species had a much coarser, dentally destructive diet. By the late teens and early twenties, people were often missing several of their molars, and the tertiary set was necessary. With better understanding of dental health and less damaging diets, most people do not need their third set of molars, and this set of teeth is the most commonly extracted.