There are many factors that can contribute to tooth extraction. Among them, we have situations of trauma, lack of space in the mouth, diabetes, and cavities. Specifically, surgical extraction is necessary when the tooth or remnants of a tooth are below the gumline. When teeth are below the gumline, the surgeon must make incisions directly into the gums in order to get at the tooth or teeth that needs removal. When the tooth is above the gumline, it is generally referred to as a simple extraction. If you need a surgical extraction, it is important that you go to the proper dental professional, a surgeon in oral and maxillofacial surgery. There are many reasons why you might need extraction or surgical extraction. We will discuss a few of them in this article.
1. Wisdom teeth
Third molars are commonly called “wisdom teeth”. This is because they are the last to be born, and generally emerge between 16 and 20 years of age, the transition period from adolescent to adult. Some of the main reasons for wisdom tooth extraction are:
- Impacted tooth: when, due to the formation of the dental arch, the tooth does not emerge, remaining stuck in the patient's gums;
- Wrongly positioned: in this case, the wisdom tooth can harm other teeth, chewing and the aesthetics of the mouth;
- No space: depending on the size of the mouth, wisdom teeth may not have enough space to emerge, causing bad breath, inflammation, pain when eating, swelling in the gums and other harmful symptoms.
2. Infections, cavities, inflammations, and periodontitis
Caries is one of the most common cases that takes the patient to the dentist's office. Thus, untreated cavities can evolve into serious conditions, in which exposed dental pulp becomes susceptible to infections and serious inflammation, leading to the need for tooth extraction.
Other types of warning inflammations are gingivitis, which can compromise periodontal fibers and ligaments. In this way, gingivitis can trigger periodontitis that can move teeth, cause them to fall out, form pus, and, in the most serious cases, generate bacterial endocarditis that will reach the heart.
In both cases, tooth extraction means that medications and other procedures can no longer control the disease. Furthermore, when teeth are removed in a timely manner, the oral bones are preserved for the insertion of later implants.
3. Traumas
In the case of trauma, some incidents can cause the sudden breakage or removal of teeth, which must be analyzed and treated as soon as possible.
When the tooth falls out completely (avulsion), it is possible to restore it. But, to do this, it must be stored and sanitized correctly.
4. Diabetes
Diabetics are prone to serious cases of inflammation and dental infections, due to their health condition. Therefore, tooth extraction may be the only alternative to relieve pain and correctly treat the disease. However, it is important to highlight that hygiene and correct brushing methods can avoid this problem.
5. Orthodontics
Orthodontics is responsible for extracting teeth for phonetic, chewing, and aesthetic purposes. Thus, those patients who have little space in their mouth can undergo surgery to remove one of their teeth and use orthodontic appliances to align the others.