Tooth Extractions in Eau Claire | Shook Family Dental

Understanding The Basics

How Do I Know I Need a Tooth Extracted?

We will always try our best to salvage your tooth before resorting to an extraction. If the tooth is salvageable, we may recommend a root canal treatment so the tooth doesn’t need to be extracted. However, if decay is too extensive, a tooth can sometimes not be saved.

There are various reasons that you may need a tooth extracted. The most commonly extracted teeth are wisdom teeth because they often grow improperly, are impacted in the gums, or cause oral health problems. Other reasons you may need an extraction is if your teeth are overcrowded, diseased, or have suffered from dental trauma.

Pay attention to the following signs which suggest you could need a tooth extraction:

• Severe tooth pain
• Gum disease
• Impacted teeth
• Severe decay
• Jaw pain and stiffness
• Crooked teeth caused by overcrowding

At Shook Family Dental, we perform tooth extractions with expert precision and make you feel comfortable by offering nitrous oxide sedation. If you need an extraction or a tooth replacement after extraction, contact us today to schedule an appointment.

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Will it Hurt to Have My Tooth Pulled?

An extraction can sound like a scary and painful procedure but the truth is we do everything in our power to make you as comfortable as possible during the procedure, and to minimize pain. You won’t feel much pain during the procedure because we administer local anesthesia that numbs the area and if you are sedated during the procedure, you’ll feel extremely relaxed and will likely not remember anything once it’s over.

Regardless of the numbing agents, the actual nerves responsible for sensation are located in your teeth, and during the extraction procedure, these are severed. Without these nerves, there is no pain. The local anesthesia will take hours to wear off so you will still be numb for a while.

Once it does wear off, however, make sure to take any prescribed or over-the-counter anti-pain medication to relieve discomfort or pain. Make sure to follow your Eau Claire dentist’s aftercare instructions and try your best not to dislodge blood clots at the extraction site.

Dislodging blood clots can lead to a very painful condition known as dry socket. If you take good care of your oral health and follow the dentist’s instructions, you won’t run into any problems and can expect the pain to be kept to a minimum.

Recognize the symptoms

Should I Replace My Missing Tooth?

Yes, unless the teeth extracted were wisdom teeth, you must replace a missing tooth. If the missing tooth was visible when you smile, then this will pose obvious cosmetic concerns but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

After you lose a tooth, your jawbone deteriorates. This causes the surrounding teeth in the mouth to shift around and even lean into the space where your old tooth was. This can lead to overcrowding and crooked teeth.

Over time, this bone loss will also lead to changes in your facial structure, which will cause you to appear visibly older than you are. Bone loss also increases your risk of losing more teeth in the future. There are many tooth replacement options available that can fill the space of your missing tooth, improve the appearance of your smile, and assist with tooth function such as speaking and chewing.

The best option for tooth replacement after extraction is a dental implant. A titanium post is implanted into the jawbone and over 3-6 months, this post becomes integrated (fused) with the jawbone. Then you will return for another appointment to have an abutment attached to the implant and finally, a dental crown attached to that.

Dental implants are the only tooth replacement that preserves the jaw bone to prevent teeth from shifting. It is also the only restoration that truly fully restores the function of the natural tooth. They’re secured in the jaw, so they don’t shift around when you eat or speak and they’re incredibly low maintenance.