When Is Tooth Extraction Considered Oral Surgery?

Do you need help deciding whether you should see a dentist or an oral surgeon if you suspect you need a tooth extracted? Instead of wondering who to meet, wouldn't it be better to visit your local dentist and request a reference to a specialist who can conduct these procedures?

Having a tooth or teeth extracted is a serious matter. If you need to have a tooth pulled, having the treatment done by a qualified dentist will help you achieve your goal while avoiding issues in your mouth.

Dentists and oral surgeons are both trained to extract teeth. Unfortunately, dentists only acquire training to extract teeth in some instances. As a result, while deciding whether you need to see a dentist or an oral surgeon, speaking with the dentist will help you make an informed decision. In this post, we will explore tooth extraction to assist you in deciding whether a dentist or an oral surgeon is most suited to the task.

Types of Teeth That Need Oral Surgery for Extraction

Some teeth are better extracted with oral surgery than by a dentist. However, surgical extraction may be required if your teeth are misaligned in your jaw, have large sinuses, or have restricted jaw mobility. Furthermore, cracked or fractured teeth that extend beneath the gum line require difficult treatments with total anesthesia, necessitating oral surgery to remove the tooth.

Finally, suppose you suffer from dental anxiety and find it challenging to sit in the dentist's chair. In that case, oral surgery can assist because specialists are trained to deliver more effective anesthesia when removing a tooth or teeth.

The removal may be complicated if you have impacted teeth buried below the gums and coated in bone. In such circumstances, dentists typically send you to an oral surgeon with the skills and equipment to execute a complex treatment and help you recover without issues later.

Difference Between Simple and Complex Tooth Extractions

Visible teeth above the gum line are comfortably retrieved by dentists doing tooth extractions near you in a simple procedure after administering local anesthetic. Simple extractions involve loosening the problematic tooth using elevators and extracting it with forceps.

Dentists assess surgical extractions by obtaining x-rays of your teeth and examining them to see if the tooth may be extracted using a simple procedure. However, if your tooth is inaccessible due to impaction or bone blockage, dentists recommend surgical removal in an elaborate process.

Surgical extractions, such as wisdom teeth, are required if your tooth is impacted because bone and tissue must be severed. In addition to removing root tips with long and curved roots or molars broken at the gum line, damaged teeth beneath the gums require surgical extractions.

Tooth extractions, whether simple or surgical, are common procedures performed by dentists and oral surgeons. Although dentists do not specialize in oral and maxillofacial surgery, they can gain knowledge by attending webinars and conferences to execute surgical tooth removal efficiently. If you need to have teeth extracted surgically, please know that your dentist has earned the necessary training and skills to execute the procedure comfortably and provide you with sufficient recovery instructions.

What Happens During the Surgical Removal of Teeth?

Surgical tooth removal entails determining the position of the problematic tooth and discussing anesthetic alternatives with you, taking into account your dental phobia. If you are confident in your ability to complete the surgery without assistance, you will be given local anesthetic near the damaged tooth. If you can't, the dentist recommends dental sedation to soothe your nerves, giving you the impression that you just spent a few minutes in the dentist's chair when you actually spent more than an hour.

The doctor creates incisions in your gums to reveal the impacted or damaged tooth beneath your gums and remove the bone and tissue that surrounds it. If the tooth is difficult to remove, the dentist may decide to split it into pieces for easier removal.

Following the surgery, the professional cleans and stitches the surgical site and provides after-care instructions to help you recover quickly and without difficulties. As long as you follow your dentist's recommendations, you should be able to recuperate normally after three or four days of oral surgery.

The bottom line

The dentist frequently performs easy and surgical extractions on patients utilizing the least invasive techniques and can provide after-care instructions to help them recover fast. Consult them if you need a tooth removed in a simple surgical operation to improve your oral health.