If you’ve suffered dental trauma or are living with a toothache due to an abscess, fracture or an untreated infection, you may need a tooth extraction to truly preserve your smile. A damaged or infected tooth can quickly lead to more serious issues which could affect your other teeth, your oral health, and in some cases, even your physical health due to a systemic infection or gum disease. At Pacific NW Dental Center, Dr. Kwansoo Lee’s goal is to save your natural teeth, but if they don’t respond to conservative treatment and extraction becomes necessary, he provides gentle tooth extractions in Spanaway, WA to quickly remedy your pain and save your smile from unnecessary harm. With sedation dentistry, a relaxing atmosphere and affordable pricing, we’ll make your tooth extraction and the path to restored health surprisingly simple.
Whatever the reason for the symptoms you’re experiencing, your team at Pacific NW Dental Center offers effective treatment for a toothache in Spanaway, WA.
During your initial consultation, we’ll examine your problem tooth to determine if extraction is needed. If we schedule you for tooth extraction, it means we were unable to preserve your natural tooth with more conservative measures or have deemed it unsalvageable due to infection, trauma or another cause. For most patients, tooth extraction is a quick and painless procedure. Our patients report that though they experienced some slight pressure during the extraction, they remained comfortable and relaxed throughout their appointment. The cost of your tooth extraction will be determined based on how many teeth you need removed and your custom course of treatment. However, we will go over all costs with you up front, so you know what to expect. We’re in-network with several leading insurance providers, and we’ll work with you to determine the best solution for your health and your finances.
After you arrive for your tooth extraction at our Spanaway, WA practice, we’ll first ensure you are comfortable, then numb the gums around your tooth with a local anesthetic. Next, we’ll use forceps to hold and gently remove your tooth, being careful to not harm adjacent teeth, bone or gum tissue. Dr. Lee and our dental team routinely complete tooth extraction procedures and are skilled in making them efficient and pain-free. Before you know it, your procedure will be complete! We’ll review post-operative instructions and recommendations with you in detail to ensure a healthy and comfortable recovery. After your appointment, your healing period will last only a few days, during which you may take over-the-counter medication for any discomfort.
If you need a wisdom tooth extracted, our priority is to ensure you are comfortable and calm throughout your surgery. We provide sedation dentistry as needed, including IV sedation for more complex cases. Then, we’ll prepare the surgical site by administering a local anesthetic. Next, we’ll remove your wisdom teeth, being careful to preserve your surrounding bone and gum tissues. Once your surgery is complete, we’ll provide instructions for your recovery and at-home care. Adhering to these instructions will help ensure a healthy blood clot forms, so you don’t develop any infection at the surgical site.
We thoroughly numb the area, so the most you’ll feel is slight pressure during the procedure. After your tooth extraction, you may experience some discomfort. Take over-the-counter painkillers right away. If necessary, we may prescribe you a stronger pain reliever. Every patient is different, so we will assess your pain relief needs on a case-by-case basis.
The answer is the same as the previous question! Many people are hesitant about going through with wisdom teeth removal because they’re worried that it’s going to hurt. In reality, leaving wisdom teeth in place is what can end up causing them pain. For example, problematic wisdom teeth can push on surrounding teeth or lead to an infection, all of which doesn’t feel so great and aren’t things we want you to have to experience.
How long your wisdom teeth removal procedure takes depends on how many teeth you’re getting removed, the position and size of those teeth, how impacted they are, and how complex it will be to remove them. Generally speaking, it could take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and a half. Then, the wisdom teeth removal recovery time is on average around three to four days up to a week.
You’ll want to stick to soft foods and liquids immediately following your extraction. After a few days, you can begin to incorporate more foods depending on your pain levels. An important note is to stay away from straws during the healing process. The sucking motion can create an air pocket or damage your stitches.
After your procedure is complete, we’ll send you home with detailed tooth extraction aftercare instructions. Our goal is to provide you with all of the resources and information you need to have a speedy, stress-free recovery. Be sure to follow the instructions and contact our office if you have any questions or concerns!
We recommend many patients replace any extracted teeth, and generally encourage dental implants.
After any tooth extraction, it’s critical that you take special steps to ensure the healing process goes as it should. A blood clot typically forms over an empty tooth socket during healing. If this doesn’t happen or if the blood clot is removed, the bone and nerves below the socket become exposed, which results in a painful complication called “dry socket.” You can prevent dry socket and ensure a smooth recovery by following the post-extraction guidelines we’ll review in detail after your surgery.
Your tooth extraction shouldn’t be the last stage of your treatment, though. We recommend many patients replace any extracted teeth, and generally encourage dental implants. The only permanent tooth replacement, dental implants look and act just like natural teeth due to their similar structure, consisting of a post (tooth root), abutment and restoration (tooth crown). Your implant will look identical to any natural tooth it replaces, and will provide all the same functional benefits, too. It’ll be as if you’d never had a tooth extracted in the first place!
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