When Does A Tooth Have To Come Out?

Tooth extraction is sort of the nuclear option when it comes to oral procedures. You have to go through plenty of pain and discomfort when you get a filling or a root canal, but it’s worth it because it lets you keep your natural teeth. A tooth removal means living without that tooth for the rest of your life and either getting an expensive implant or a weaker denture instead.

Still, there are times when teeth absolutely have to come out. These times come up much less often these days thanks to modern procedures like veneers and root canals, but it can still be necessary under the right conditions.

Crowding

“Crowding” refers to times when your teeth press against each other because they have no room to spare and can cause some serious pain. Many people experience crowding when their wisdom teeth come in because their mouths aren’t quite big enough to fit one last row of teeth. However, misaligned adult teeth that come in aimed the wrong way can also cause crowding. Orthodontists use braces to prevent crowding (among other things), but a tooth removal might be needed if they aren’t corrected in time.

Braces

This condition only applies to baby teeth. Your baby teeth all fall out at different times so you don’t have a toothless mouth at any point, but when you get braces they need to be on your adult teeth to work. Molars take longer to fall out than your front teeth, so an orthodontist might hurry things along by pulling out your baby molars and letting the adult teeth underneath settle in.

Excessive Damage

Cracks and chips you can solve using veneers and inlays, and you can even replace an entire enamel crown with a porcelain duplicate. But every once in a while a tooth either takes too much damage or develops too many hard-to-reach cavities for any procedure to fix. When that happens, there’s no other choice than to pull out the tooth (or at least what’s left of it).

You should also know there are two kinds of tooth extractions: regular and surgical. Regular extractions mostly consist of pulling the tooth out, but surgical extractions involve cutting away the gums and stitching them back together once the tooth is gone. Surgical tooth extraction is longer and more painful, but you may need it for impacted teeth that won’t rise up all the way or for damaged teeth that left their roots behind.

Either way, there are times and places when a tooth extraction has to happen. Just decide what will fill its place right away, because the bone arches that supports your teeth degrade quickly and regular implants need plenty of bone to anchor in.