Tooth extraction may feel like an extreme or overwhelming treatment. It may feel particularly confusing when it comes as a recommendation from your dentist. Your dentist’s goal is to use preventive and restorative treatment to keep your teeth healthy, vibrant, and functional throughout your lifetime. Why, then, would your dentist recommend removing a tooth? In some oral health cases, the best move you can make for your future is to extract a problematic tooth. Your dentist doesn’t make this recommendation lightly; they’ll only choose tooth extraction when it’s necessary.

Tooth Extraction Aims to Preserve Your Other Teeth

Tooth extraction is used in cases when leaving the tooth in question would pose an oral health risk for other tissues or teeth in your mouth. One of the most common cases where tooth extraction is recommended is when you have a root canal infection that cannot be corrected with root canal therapy. Infected root canals are dangerous to your teeth, as well as your other oral tissues. Once bacteria reach this area of your tooth, they can travel to these other tissues and cause additional infections or blood clots. Tooth extraction removes the problematic tooth.

Tooth Extraction Removes Teeth that Cannot Be Repaired

Tooth extraction is also used on teeth that simply cannot recover with a restoration. If your tooth becomes physically damaged in an accident your dentist will typically try to use a dental crown to salvage the healthy root structure of your tooth. Depending on the nature of the damage — a vertical fracture or root damage are particularly difficult — your dentist may not be able to use a crown to fix the problem. In these cases, your dentist will opt for tooth extraction so that they can choose a prosthodontic option to replace your tooth.

After Tooth Extraction, a Dental Implant Offers Comprehensive Recovery

Your outlook after tooth extraction isn’t bleak. Your dentist has an array of dental prosthetics that they can use to rebuild your smile and the function of your bite. The most comprehensive prosthodontic option is a dental implant. Dental implants recreate the structure of your tooth’s roots, giving it the strength and stability of a natural tooth. Implants are surgically set in your jawbone, and can actually have a stabilizing effect on this bone. After recovery, your implant will provide you with the durability that you’d expect from a natural tooth.

MMC Dental Walks You Through the Implant Process

MMC Dental is a team of experts who are capable of working with all types of implant cases. Wherever you are in the process, we have team members that can help. After a tooth extraction procedure, you don’t have to worry about the state of your teeth. You’re in good hands at MMC Dental. Learn more about your treatment options for damaged teeth by contacting MMC Dental in Houston, TX at 713-926-8896.