Wisdom tooth extraction, woman suffering from a toothache on gray background, dentistry conceptTaking care of your smile often involves many moving steps, and when an infection or other concern gets out of hand, you may require more extensive treatment in order to restore your oral health. It is for this reason that your dentist recommends practicing a thorough preventive routine in addition to attending routine checkups. While we strive to do everything we can to restore your oral structures, it is important to know that sometimes the best option out there might involve a dental extraction. In today’s blog, your Cedar Rapids, IA dentist describes instances that warrant the removal of a tooth and what you can expect from the process.

Impacted Wisdom Teeth

When you think about it, the last thing you really want to experience is the loss of one or more of your natural teeth. After all, your adult teeth are permanent structures, meaning once they are gone, they will not return. In some circumstances, however, this can actually be a good thing. Take, for example, your wisdom teeth.

Whether you are aware of it or not, wisdom teeth have evolved over the years to become nonessential. Not only this, but their presence can often lead to smile complications and infections, especially if they fail to erupt properly. In other words, your dentist may recommend having these structures removed in order to help prioritize your oral health overall.

You see, wisdom teeth are already not working with a lot of space or area in order to erupt properly, to begin with. When they fail to erupt or only erupt partially, this not only creates structural and functional issues but can lead to major infections as well. Contact our team to learn more today.

A Threat to Other Structures

Another instance in which a dental extraction might be warranted includes if a tooth is posing a significant threat to surrounding teeth. The reason tooth decay and similar infections are considered to be the most common threats is due to the fact that the infection itself has no bounds.

Indeed, it will spread to neighboring teeth, if you let it, and if no other restorative measure has worked thus far to prevent the infection from spreading, your next best option is to mitigate the issue at the source. For more information about this process and what we can do to help, give our team a call today.

Your Tooth is Beyond Saving

Finally, but certainly not least, it is important to recognize when a structure is past the point of viably saving. If the majority of the structure is damaged so that there is little to no structural integrity left, it is best to remove the compromised tooth and, ideally, prevent the infection from spreading to other teeth.

Give Us a Call Today

Contact Cedar Dental in Cedar Rapids, IA by calling 319-364-7108 to schedule your next appointment with our office and give us a call to learn how you can take better care of your smile today.