Typically, most people expect their adult teeth to last a lifetime, but this is not always the case. Sometimes, a tooth can be severely damaged, causing substantial pain that the only viable remedy is an emergency tooth extraction. Many reasons exist that can lead you to take this drastic move: gum diseases, traumatic injury to the jaw, or an abscess, among others. When you experience extreme discomfort on your teeth, you will need an experienced dentist to treat you. If you need an emergency tooth extraction in Encino, get in touch with us at the Encino Dentist immediately.

Reasons that Can Lead to Emergency Tooth Extraction

The following can lead to an emergency tooth extraction:

Trauma on your Jaw or Teeth

The American Dental Association (ADA) claims the common reasons people get their teeth extracted are disease, crowning, or injury. Teeth or your jaw can suffer trauma from a sporting accident or a traffic accident. The treatment you received when your teeth suffer trauma depends on their location and severity. Trauma can cause your tooth to crack, and the fracture extends to the gumline. When this happens especially to a front tooth, it may be impossible to treat it with the best remedy being the extraction.

Following a traumatic accident, the injuries to your teeth can cause excruciating pain that you will need treatment for. Your dentist will begin by taking an x-ray of the injured area to determine the extent of your injuries. If it makes sense to save your tooth, your dentist will do what is possible for that. However, with severe injuries, it may be impossible to keep it. Your dentist will present you with the best option to stop further decay or pain and damage. This option, in many cases, is an emergency tooth extraction.

Orthodontic Treatment

When you have crooked teeth or overcrowded ones and need to improve your smile through dental cosmetics, extraction of a tooth is common to create room for the teeth. Although this procedure is not out of pain, it is out of necessity, and it becomes an emergency because you are seeking a smile makeover. Like in any other tooth extraction, your dentist will take an image of your mouth to see the position of the teeth and which one needs removal. This would become an emergency tooth extraction if you were to get desirable cosmetic treatment for your mouth.

Gum Disease

Sometimes, you could have a periodontal disease that you ignore to treat, or you discover it when it has caused extensive damage. The discomfort from the damage can also be severe, causing you to visit a dentist for treatment. Unfortunately, if the disease has damaged the underlying jawbone, the best option will be an emergency extraction of the affected tooth.

Dental Abscess

This happens when the gum area around your tooth is filled with pus and is swollen. An abscess is typically found on the gum’s inner side around your tooth and causes extreme pain. However, before the pain sets in to cause you alarm, you can live with the abscess without knowing it for months. Unfortunately, an abscess will not heal or go away on its own, and the more time you have it, the more damage it causes to your tooth. By the time you begin to experience severe pain, it is often too late to save the tooth, making an emergency extraction viable.

Dental Caries

Many people can live with cavities for extended periods. However, as you stay with your cavity without treatment, it continues to enlarge and eventually exposes some nerves. At this point, you will begin to experience extreme pain that will cause you to visit your dentist.

Typically, a dentist will always want to save your natural tooth. Most dentists will opt for a root canal with a cavity to treat it and relieve you of the pain. Unfortunately, when the hole damages the tooth pulp significantly, it will lose your tooth. When you have a dental cavity, getting it treated earlier is significant in avoiding an emergency tooth extraction.

Impacted Wisdom Tooth

Another reason to get an emergency tooth extraction is when your wisdom tooth is impacted. When your wisdom tooth is stuck under the gum and is unable to break through it, it can result in discomfort and even an infection. When you experience the swelling of your gums, pain, and inflammation, visiting a dentist to determine the cause is critical. If your dentist realizes you have an impacted wisdom tooth, the conventional treatment for it is its extraction.

When a tooth is damaged because of any of the reasons discussed above, extracting it becomes the best option to protect the surrounding teeth from infection. Extracting your tooth may seem like a simple procedure, but if not done well and by an experienced dentist, it can also result in further damage to the remaining teeth.

When Do You Need Emergency Tooth Extraction?

Here are some of the issues that might call for an emergency tooth extraction:

  • The extreme sensitivity of your tooth – your teeth may be sensitive to very cold or hot foods and beverages. However, when the sensitivity is excessive, it will cause you discomfort. When you use toothpaste to aid in the sensitivity, and it doesn’t get better, it signifies a more significant underlying problem. This may be a sign that the affected tooth needs to get extracted.
  • When your teeth suddenly get discolored or darken – There is the natural color of your teeth. When your teeth are in perfect health, they will maintain their natural appearance. However, if you notice a tooth changing its color or becoming darker, it means there is a bigger problem that may require its extraction.
  • Painful gums – When you start experiencing pain in your gums, you may want to check if there are physical signs to the pain. You may notice your gum is swollen or inflamed, or an abscess. Pain in the gums can be an indication of periodontal disease or another underlying issue. This sign may be an indication that your tooth may get removed.
  • Bad taste in the mouth – From time to time, you may experience a bad taste that goes away when you rinse with a mouthwash or brush your teeth with toothpaste. However, when the feeling is persistent and refuses to disappear with regular cleaning, it is an indication of a problem. Treating the underlying problem may include the extraction of the affected tooth.
  • Extreme swelling making it difficult to open the mouth – Opening your mouth should not be painful or difficult. When your mouth is excessively swollen, it may be due to a trauma affecting a tooth or an infection. When the swelling makes it difficult to open the mouth, it means the damage is extreme, and to correct it, it would require emergency removal of affected teeth.
  • Pus or whitish fluid in the mouth – When you notice pus or a white fluid in the mouth, it may indicate the presence of an abscess. This often damages the bone structure underneath weakening the affected tooth significantly. If the tooth is not extracted fast, the possibility of infecting surrounding teeth is higher.
  • Unstable tooth – Sometimes, a tooth can be wriggly may be due to age or past trauma. When your tooth is wobbly, it will cause challenges in chewing your food or other discomforts. The remedy for a shaky tooth is to remove it and replace it with a prosthetic one that is more stable.
  • Pain in your tooth – When you experience pain in your tooth, it may mean you have a crack, or the underlying jawbone is fractured. If this is the case, your dentist may advise you to get it extracted and avoid the pain.

The Process of Tooth Extraction

When you experience any of the symptoms above or have reasons to have your tooth extracted, the first thing to do is identify an experienced dentist. The dentist must carry out a comprehensive examination of your mouth before agreeing you need an emergency removal of your teeth. This will involve taking an x-ray of the affected tooth and those surrounding it.

The x-ray helps determine the extent of the damage and how to remove the tooth best. Depending on the problematic tooth, the type of problem and its location, an extraction can be simple, while in other cases more complicated. The density of the underlying bone, the amount of bone holding the affected tooth, and the length of the root also determine the difficulty in removing it.

Simple extractions will not require the removal of bone or gum tissue surrounding the tooth. While preparing you for the procedure, local anesthesia is applied around it. Using an excavator, the dentist will push it between the bone and tooth to loosen it. This helps in making the extraction easier. After the tooth is relatively loose, the dentist will use a forceps to extract it. The extraction process involves a lot of pushing of the tooth against the bone, more than pulling it out.

Sometimes, the remaining tooth is not enough to push with the elevator or hold it with forceps. This happens when the tooth never grew entirely, is broken partially or decayed. When this is the case, the dentist will have to push the gums back and use a drill to remove the bone around it. This makes it easier to extract it. Some teeth have multiple roots in different directions. Your dentist may section the tooth in various pieces to enable its extraction.

When the extraction is more complex, a surgical procedure may be necessary to remove the tooth. After the completion of the process, the incision is closed using self-dissolving stitches. You must, however, take care of the wound to avoid further infection.

Expectations Post Extraction Procedure

After undergoing an emergency removal of your tooth, you may notice slight bleeding of your gums. Equally, you have still had some discomfort when the area swells and pain. This is normal after such a procedure. Typically, in 24 hours, the symptoms should subside significantly. If this does not happen, you must inform your dentist to check if there are other issues.

If the pain is too much immediately after the procedure, you may be given pain medicine, reducing the inflammation. However, if the tooth was extracted because of gum disease or abscess, you will be given medication to take from home to treat the problem.

The complete healing of the gum takes about a week. As you heal, you should avoid hard foods that can cause damage to the gum. Equally, you must maintain excellent oral hygiene to aid with quick recovery.

Your Oral Hygiene After an Emergency Tooth Extraction

How you take care of your teeth or mouth can be a contributing factor to the problems you face. If you never practiced excellent dental hygiene, it may be the reason for your gum disease or decaying teeth. Without proper dental health, you will still experience the same problems and keep getting extractions done.

Immediately after your extraction procedure, you must also practice healthy habits. Avoid biting into hard objects that can result in the cracking of your teeth or bone. Regular cleaning of your teeth with fluoride toothpaste is recommended. Ensure to floss at least once a day to remove plaque and food particles stuck between your teeth. Use a soft brush when brushing your teeth in the morning and before bedtime. In between when you eat, rinse your mouth thoroughly.

You must also avoid foods high in sugar or chewing on candy. When the teeth are not well cleaned, the sugar from the candy forms plaque that eats into your tooth enamel resulting in decay. Foods that cause discoloration of your teeth are also highly discouraged.

Find a Dentist Near Me

A problem in your mouth can cause you a lot of discomfort. When the issue is severe, it may be challenging to do normal things like eating or cleaning your teeth. Various reasons can cause the discomfort that may need an emergency tooth extraction. Call the Encino Dentist at 818-650-0429 if you need an emergency tooth extraction or related dental services.