Tooth Extractions
Dental Extractions
As a top tier Peoria area dentist, Dr. Hudson has performed thousands of extractions and is considered among the best in his field. He is not only highly skilled at tooth extractions, he is very mindful of the stress dental surgery can cause his patients. His compassionate and calm nature puts his patients at ease and ready to move forward with their procedure. Dr. Hudson is committed to your comfort throughout treatment—from the initial consultation to postoperative care.
Wisdom Teeth Extraction
There are several reasons for needing teeth extractions. One of the most common reasons is impacted wisdom teeth. This third set of molars usually comes in between the ages of 16 and 20. In many people, the wisdom teeth fail to emerge through the gums and if not extracted can cause pain, crowding and other related problems.
Proactive wisdom teeth extraction is recommended to avoid the problems that are almost certain to occur if these molars are left alone. These molars frequently crowd the arch and can damage adjacent teeth. As they try to emerge they can be very painful. Scheduling removal before they become problematic avoids complications such as infection and gum disease as well as crowding and pain.
Childhood Crowding
In young children a tooth may need to be extracted to make room for a permanent tooth that is impacted. These are usually very simple extractions that only require local anesthetic as these baby teeth are not strongly rooted.
Children and adults that are undergoing orthodontic treatment to straighten their teeth may need extractions. The strategic removal of one or more teeth can then provide enough room for the teeth to move into alignment. Crowding of the dental arches is one of the primary causes of misalignment.
Crowding also interferes with proper dental hygiene which can then lead to tooth decay and gum disease.
Tooth Decay or Damage
Finally, decay or damage may make it necessary to remove one or more teeth to avoid systemic infections or recurring pain. Removing a damaged or decayed tooth provides an opportunity to replace it with a dental implant or other restoration method.
Anesthesia Options
For simple extractions local anesthesia is usually more than enough to provide full pain relief for the procedure. This involves numbing the injection site with a topical gel and then completing the injection procedure. Dr. Hudson is exceptionally skilled at providing complete anesthesia for tooth extraction. Many of our patients comment that they didn’t even feel the injection! Our patients can rest assured that their extractions will be painless and as stress free as possible.
In patients who are having all of their wisdom teeth removed, sedation anesthesia is used. This involves two steps; local anesthesia as well as intravenous sedation anesthesia. This blocks the pain as well as any unpleasant memories that would be associated with a complex extraction procedure. Sedation anesthesia can also be used for very complex extraction cases. These cases requiring sedation are done at an oral surgeon’s office.
Tooth Extraction Recovery
Tooth extraction requires a change in the daily routine until the initial healing phase is complete. Initially when a tooth is removed there will be bleeding until a clot forms in the socket. A gauze pad will be placed at the site and can be changed as needed. Once the clot forms, patients must be careful not to dislodge it. The clot allows the socket to heal and keeps it clean and contributes to keeping you comfortable. If the clot becomes dislodged it can cause pain in the socket.
Dr. Hudson provides full after care instructions to each patient. This includes instructions on how to perform usual hygiene tasks, what to eat and things to avoid such as drinking with a straw, eating foods that could dislodge the clot and avoiding soda, alcohol and hot beverages.
Recovery time depends on how many teeth were extracted and if they were impacted. Generally, recovering from wisdom teeth extractions lasts 4 days to one week, while a simple extraction might only require special care for a few days.
There will be some pain and swelling with most extractions which can be managed with pain medication as well as frequently applying a cool gel pack to the jaw. Many extractions have very little pain after the procedure, particularly if they were not impacted or infected.
