ORAL SURGERY – Extractions in Muskegon

Tooth Extractions

At Lumbertown Dental Wellness, we treat most patients who need extractions right in our office. We love trying to save teeth, but unfortunately there are certain circumstances when it’s necessary to remove a tooth. The most common reasons for taking out a tooth are:

  • Abscessed tooth, beyond repair needing a root canal treatment or filing
  • Excessive crowding beyond what orthodontics can correct
  • Infected or impacted wisdom teeth
  • Severe bone loss causing mobility

 

While extractions are the most common type of oral surgery, also included in this category is dental implants, cyst removal and facial trauma correction – broken jaws or skeletal discrepancies.

Wisdom Teeth Removal

If you are experiencing pain in your back part of your jaw and you are in the age range of 17-23, the most common reason is likely because your third molars or “wisdom teeth” are starting to come in. Common symptoms include swelling or bleeding gums, bad breath, headache or jaw pain, swollen lymph nodes or tenderness in the gums.

Most people have wisdom teeth that come in crowded, crooked or sideways or partially impacted. Most of these situations lead to extracting the wisdom tooth. Not all wisdom teeth need to come out. In fact, if you lost a first or second molar, it’s likely that you will have room for your wisdom tooth and could possibly use it as an anchor tooth for a future bridge. 

We often will take a panoramic film to help evaluate the condition of the wisdom teeth and see it’s relationship to the nerve which can be located close by. In some cases, if the nerves of the tooth are very close to the nerve, we will tend to leave the tooth in to avoid potentially damaging or putting pressure on the nerve in the lower jaw.

When a tooth is extracted, it is becoming more common to fill in the socket with a type of bone grafting material to help create a scaffolding for your body to heal quicker and for the bone to reform over the opening where the tooth was. Bone grafting is for socket and ridge preservation. It helps to prevent bone loss and thinning. By doing this, you will have a much better ridge for any future dental work such as a dental implant, a partial denture, or even a dental bridge. The bone graft material stimulates bone growth and helps to maintain a significant amount of bone height and width.

If you think you need a tooth extracted contact Dr. James R. Donley at Lumbertown Dental Wellness in North Muskegon, Michigan for a consultation about your options for care.