At New Leaf Dental, our goal is to help you maintain good oral health. If a problem should arise, we can provide restorative treatment to address the issue and set you back on the road to health. Occasionally, however, a situation may come up in which the best solution is to extract a tooth or more. When this is the case, you can be assured that you will undergo a comfortable procedure at our dentistry near you in Brooklyn, NY and enjoy good oral health soon afterward.

Why are Extractions Necessary?

In general, a dentist’s goal is to help you retain as many natural teeth as possible. An extraction will be recommended if there is a situation in which retaining the tooth could threaten the health of the rest of your teeth or your mouth overall. This may happen if a tooth has become affected with decay so severe that neither a dental filling (the most common treatment) nor a root canal treatment can restore it to health. This can also occur if damage has been done to the tooth through an injury, and the dental pulp is at risk of infection. The tooth will need to be extracted to prevent the spread of infection. Your dentist may also recommend extraction if you are undergoing orthodontic treatment, and there is not sufficient room for all of the teeth to comfortably and properly align in the mouth.

How are Extractions Performed?

There are two types of extraction. Both will require some form of anesthesia to help minimize pain and discomfort. If the tooth is visible above the gumline and can be grabbed with forceps, a simple extraction can be performed. Your dentist at New Leaf Dental will take hold of the tooth and move it back and forth to loosen it until it can be removed from the gums. Teeth that are rooted more deeply in the gums will require a surgical extraction, in which an incision will be made into the gums to access the tooth before it can be extracted. The tooth may need to be broken up into pieces before it can be removed.

Following your tooth extraction in Brooklyn, NY, you will receive instructions on how to care for the extraction site to promote healing and prevent infection. You may receive medication to help with pain or swelling.