AA Family Dental Group has won multiple Excellence in Patient Satisfaction and Patients’ Choice Awards for its commitment to patient care. Dedicated to providing a comfortable, safe experience for patients, AA Family Dental Group strives to put patients at ease when undergoing extractions and other procedures.
If a mouth is too crowded, or if one or more teeth has incurred damage or is diseased, one or more extractions may be necessary. The process begins with the administration of local anesthetic, after which the dentist will apply a sharp implement to the gum line to test for numbness. The dentist will not begin the procedure until he or she is certain that the anesthetic has taken effect.
To perform the extraction itself, the dentist must loosen the tooth from its tight casing within the bone. The dentist must widen that casing, known as the socket, and break the ligaments that attach the tooth to the jawbone.
To loosen the tooth, the dentist will use either forceps or a straight instrument known as an elevator to rock the tooth back and forth. As the tooth moves, it presses against the walls of the socket. This compresses the surrounding spongy bone and widens the socket.
The dentist will either lift the tooth out of the socket using the elevator or grasp it with forceps to lift it away. In some cases, the dentist will need to break the tooth apart to lift it out of the bone.
The dentist then places a gauze pad into the socket to stop the bleeding. For some patients, a few small self-dissolving stitches may be necessary to accelerate clotting. By applying ice for 10-minute intervals, the patient can minimize swelling.
