Building Confidence With Dental Beauty

If you are missing a tooth and you plan to go in to get a tooth extraction, you may be nervous about the procedure. If this is the case, educating yourself on what you can expect may set your mind at ease. This article will explain the procedure to you.

What to expect during the procedure

When you go in to get your tooth extracted, the dentist will take an x-ray of your tooth. They will look the x-ray over so they know just how to proceed when extracting your tooth. This will also show them if you have an infection in your tooth, which may require a round of antibiotics and possibly a return visit at a later date for the extraction.

You may be sedated for the procedure. This makes it a lot easier on most people so they aren't aware of the sounds of the procedure, which can be disturbing. Some types of sedation will require you to have someone there to drive you home after the procedure, such as Valium. You can also choose to go with a local anesthetic for the procedure. This anesthesia will be injected near the tooth to numb the area.

During the extraction, the dentist will grab the tooth with dental pliers and rock them in a back and forth motion to loosen the root of the tooth. If necessary, they may also use a cutting tool that fits between the tooth and the gum to help loosen the tooth.

A tool which resembles a small screwdriver will be used to put pressure on the tooth and expand the socket. At this point, the dentist will pull the tooth out of the socket. Sometimes, the tooth breaks into a few pieces and this can lead to loud cracking sounds. Don't be shocked if you hear these sounds.

Your dentist may need to put some stitches in your gum after the tooth extraction. If you have stitches, they will be dissolvable stitches, so you won't have to worry about coming back in to have them removed.

After the procedure

Your dentist may send you home with a prescription for antibiotics. Make sure you take them as prescribed to avoid infection. They will also give you instructions on how to care for your mouth. Follow the dentist's instructions to the letter. If you don't you increase your chances of suffering from a dry socket. This is a condition where the socket doesn't clot correctly. It's painful and will require you to go back in to a dentist, like William J Guthrie DDS PC, several times.