Tooth extraction is the removal of a tooth under local anesthesia. We proceed to removal of teeth when their prognosis is hopeless and they can only be considered as a problem for oral health. At some patients teeth which carry a big amount of bacteria and have a poor prognosis can also be a threat for health in general (e.g vulnerable groups of patients can be elderly patients or patients with a higher risk of endocarditis incidence). Removal of teeth can also be planified as a necessary procedure for an orthodontic treatment to take place. In some cases where repeated inflammation of wisdom teeth appears it is also necessary to proceed to extraction of wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth can sometimes be referred to special oral surgeons according to their difficulty as seen from a clinical examination or a panoramic radiography.
The procedure of tooth removal can be done with simple or surgical extraction. A simple extraction is done without any local surgery. A surgical extraction of a tooth can include soft tissue incision and bone intervention surrounding the roots of the tooth. In many cases after a surgical extraction a suture needs to be placed at the extraction area and removed after 7-10 days by the dentist.
In all cases before starting any extraction a medical and dental record of the patient is being kept and a radiography is done. In most of the cases a small radiography is necessary but in the case of wisdom teeth a panoramic radiography is almost always needed before extraction.
Post-extraction instructions are always given to the patient and sometimes after antibiotics are prescribed.
