Having a tooth extraction, also known as wisdom teeth removal, can be very scary. The thought about having your tooth pulled out plus the discomfort and pain can make anybody to be afraid. As we all know, tooth extraction is an important oral health procedure which involves the removal of an unwanted or damaged tooth from its place in the bone. Maybe out of fear, you might imagine that this whole procedure will hurt like crazy. But the truth is, the procedure hurts a lot less than you think. In this article, I will address some of the common questions that most patients ask when they are about to get a tooth extraction for the first time with the help of an experienced oral surgeon and local anesthesia.
Why should I remove my tooth?
There are so many reasons why your dentist might recommend tooth extraction for you. The most common reason for tooth extraction is when a tooth is impacted, which stops it from growing in normally. The wisdom teeth for an example are the three set of molars that grow at the back of a person’s mouth. These sets of teeth usually grow in being impacted and partially covered by the gums. Another reason why tooth extraction may be recommended, is when a tooth is badly damaged and impossible to repair with the available tooth repair treatments.
Does tooth extraction hurt?
Dentists prioritize the comfort of patients during wisdom teeth extraction surgery. With the use of anesthetics and sedatives, you will hardly feel any discomfort. The dentist or surgeon applies a local anesthetic to numb the gums and bones around the tooth. After injecting anesthesia, you won’t experience significant postoperative discomfort from the extraction.
What will you feel during the extraction?
Normally, you shouldn’t feel any postoperative discomfort if everything was carried out properly during your tooth extractions. But if you experience any pain at all, you should notify the surgeon, as he can still apply more local anesthesia. However, these are the common sensations that you will experience during the tooth extraction recovery procedure.
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Pressure: during the tooth removal process, it safe to say that it’s normal to feel lots of pressure. The reason for this is because most dentists use back and forth pressure to loosen a tooth for removal. The dentist is more likely to rock your affected tooth, firmly pushing it back and forth so as to loosen it from the socket. Just like I said earlier, you should not feel any pain, just pressure. If you feel pain, don’t hesitate to let the dentist know.
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Pinch: during the process you will also experience a pinch- like sensation while the dentist is working on the tooth. But remember, the sedative will help to avoid any real pain. The pinch can be a little bit painful but it will only last for some few seconds while the anesthesia takes effect.(1)
What can determine the amount of pain?
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The patient: some patients are much more sensitive to pain than others. The dentist will be very careful because some people’s tissues are just more sensitive than the next person, some people have a higher pain threshold than others. (2) Dentist hates it when patients moan, flinch and squirm at every routine , they tend to draw their dentist’s attention away from the process at hand, this may lead to additional unnecessary pain, making the procedure to last longer than expected.
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Amount of tissue damage: the best approach to remove a tooth is to carry out the procedure slowly, gently and as least traumatically as possible. If the extraction process was done in a wrong way or too quickly, it can damage much of the gum tissues and generate pain after the procedure is over. If possible, ask your dentist to do the procedure in such a way that you will have less pain afterward.
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Amount of infection: the presence of infection in the surrounding body tissues can aggravate the pain during tooth extraction. If your gums are infected, then you will experience more pain and difficulty with healing than you would if the tissues were healthier. The presence of swollen tissues or pus around the affected tooth can make the whole process to be very difficult. The dentist may have to give you some antibiotics or extra care before the extraction will be carried out.
Final Thoughts
The thought of having a tooth or several teeth extracted may make dentist phobia to kick into high gear. When you visit a dentist for a tooth extraction, the surgeon will take his time to explain some few things about the procedures and pain management. At the day of the extraction, the surgeon will conduct proper evaluation on your affected tooth in order to determine the best way to remove it. Whatever the method that the surgeon chooses to use, he will have to sedate the area properly, making sure that the whole process is pain-free. Nitrous oxide may be used for sedation.
So, if you are planning to extract a tooth, you might as well like to know the procedures involved in tooth extraction. I compiled a list of tooth extraction procedures before. You can read the post here – Tooth extraction procedures (How It’s Done).