The beauty of modern dentistry is that there is an answer for every dental need. Though it may not always be immediately obvious, that answer sometimes involves extracting a tooth for the good of the rest of your teeth. It isn’t as common as other restorative options, and usually, the goal is to preserve your natural tooth structure. But when tooth extraction is a must, it means that the tooth’s presence causes more of a threat to your smile than that specific tooth’s loss.
Impacted Wisdom Teeth
You might not ever develop wisdom teeth, but if you do, then they may cause problems for your other teeth. There is often little room left on our dental ridges by the time our last four molars, or wisdom teeth, try to erupt. This can result in impaction as your third set of molars tries to makes its way into your smile. Many patients need their impacted wisdom teeth removed to relieve the pain and stop the pressure from damaging more of their teeth.
Severe Internal Tooth Infection
Tooth infection, or tooth decay, is more common than most other dental conditions, and in many cases, it is effectively treated before it can cause severe damage. Sometimes, though, the decay can reach the inside of the tooth, infecting the pulp chamber and the tissues that it contains. While root canal therapy is designed to address such cases, it may not be enough if the infection is allowed to remain long enough, and extraction may be the only way to prevent the tooth infection from spreading.
Periodontal Disease
Periodontal disease, or gum disease, systematically attacks the gums, periodontal tissues, and eventually the jawbone structure that support your teeth. Unlike tooth infection, gum disease doesn’t immediately cause dental discomfort, which can fool many patients into believing that nothing is wrong until the disease ravishes their smiles. When patients finally do seek treatment, enough damage has often been caused that one or more teeth no longer have the support they need to stay in place, and therefore need to be extracted.