A General Understanding of Tooth Extraction

Ideally, good hygiene and prompt dental care, when needed, could help you retain all of your healthy, permanent teeth for life. Even if you have to extract your four wisdom teeth, the remaining 28 teeth can function perfectly well, provided they don’t become excessively diseased or damaged. Still, very few people enjoy ideal dental health throughout their entire lives, and tooth extraction is a necessary procedure in a number of different situations.

Extraction Due to Extreme Cavities

Although not many people consider it a disease, tooth decay (the reason for cavities) is the most common chronic disease in the world. Usually, a cavity, or hole in your tooth, can be treated with a dental filling procedure, which involves cleaning the cavity and reinforcing the tooth with a dental filling. If tooth decay reaches the nerves and blood vessels inside the tooth, the infection can spread through the roots and into the surrounding tissues and jawbone. A root canal treatment is designed to clean and seal the roots before this can occur. However, if the tooth is too severely decayed, then a tooth extraction may be necessary to stop the spread of infection.

Extraction Due to Gum Disease

Gum disease describes a progressive, inflammatory infection in the gums that surround and protect your teeth’s roots. Though your gums can swell and bleed as the infection settles in (a condition known as gingivitis), the early stages of gum disease are often ignored because they don’t usually hurt. Your teeth may grow sensitive as gum tissue becomes inflamed and exposes your teeth’s roots, but by the time many patients seek treatment, enough of their gums and jawbone have been infected that one or more teeth may require an extraction.

What Comes Next?

Tooth extraction may be required in the face of a severe dental disease, but removing a diseased tooth doesn’t automatically restore your good dental health. After the extraction, Dr. Maria and Dr. Thanasi Loukas will prescribe an appropriate treatment plan to ensure that gum disease is under control and doesn’t continue to threaten your smile. Once your dental infection is in check, Dr. Loukas will likely recommend replacing the extracted tooth, preferably with a dental implant, to restore your smile’s beauty and function.

About Your Park Ridge Dentists:

We can rebuild your smile if it’s compromised by cavities, gum disease, or tooth loss, but preventing such issues with preventive dental care can help you avoid the need for complex treatment later. Dr. Maria and Dr. Thanasi Loukas are highly-skilled general, restorative, and implant dentists serving the Park Ridge and surrounding Chicago communities. To schedule an appointment, call Loukas General Dentistry today at (847) 696-1919.