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When baby teeth fall out, the second set of teeth that replaces them is meant to last a lifetime. For this reason, dental care providers encourage patients to maintain excellent oral hygiene practices and schedule regular dental visits to prevent tooth loss. Although dentists do what they can to help patients keep their teeth intact, certain situations may require a tooth extraction in Bridgeport.  

Extraction procedures come in two types: simple and surgical dental extractions. While dentists perform simple extractions on teeth that are visible in the mouth, they carry out surgical extractions when the tooth isn’t accessible.

When Is a Tooth Extract Necessary?

Severe Tooth Decay

Decay that reaches the dental pulp at the tooth’s center causes bacteria to invade the blood vessels and nerves. While a root canal procedure may help address the infection, irreparable damage due to severe tooth decay requires tooth extraction. Your dentist may recommend pulling a tooth when no filling, crown, or root canal can save its limited tooth structure. 

Gum Disease

Gum disease, also known as periodontal disease, refers to an infection of the gum tissue, periodontal ligaments, alveolar bone, and other structures supporting the teeth. While the earliest stage of gum disease, called gingivitis, only affects the gums around the base of your teeth, the more severe kind of gum disease affects the ligaments and the bone. When gum recession and bone loss cause teeth to loosen, tooth extraction may be the only viable solution to restoring gum health and other supporting tooth structures. 

Impacted Wisdom Tooth

Your third molars, or wisdom teeth, are the last teeth to emerge in your mouth. In most cases, they erupt sometime between the ages of 17 and 25. While some people have them without issues, others deal with an impacted wisdom tooth.   

If your mouth doesn’t have enough space to accommodate your wisdom teeth, they get stuck below the surface of your gum tissue and grow at an odd angle. Since impacted teeth increase the risk of tooth decay, cavities, infection, cysts, gum disease, dental crowding, and damage to other teeth, your dentist may recommend an extraction.

Overcrowding in the Mouth

Dental crowding occurs when you have misaligned or overlapping teeth. This problem occurs when the jaw is too small to support them, causing them to compete for space when they grow in. When they do emerge, they do so at unnatural angles.  

Patients with overly large or irregularly-shaped teeth and those who lost their baby teeth early or have supernumerary teeth usually experience dental crowding. In such cases, dentists recommend pulling a tooth or two to avoid cosmetic and health-related issues. 

Trauma

Whether an accident involves a car collision or stray baseball coming at record speed, teeth are usually some of the first casualties to suffer the consequences. When trauma to the mouth is strong enough to cause lacerations to the gums and fractures in a tooth, the dentist’s first option is always to preserve the teeth through dental bonding, crowns, bridges, or veneers. However, tooth extraction becomes a necessary part of the recovery process when the dental issue is too severe.

Do You Have Questions About the Tooth Extraction Procedure in Bridgeport?

At Brooklawn Dental Associates, we are dedicated to providing the highest level of dental care and friendly and compassionate service. Contact us today to make an appointment.