Dental Extractions

A dental extraction is the removal of a tooth from the mouth. There are a number of reasons why your dentist might recommend that you have a tooth, or even several teeth, extracted. The most common reason for extraction is tooth damage due to breakage or decay. Some teeth will have such extensive decay due to periodontal disease or else will have broken or cracked in such an extreme manner that an extraction might be considered the best or at least a reasonable, solution. In those cases where significant bone damage has occurred and a tooth has become excessively mobile extraction of the tooth may be the only option. In other cases the cost of needed dental treatment may be the reason an extraction is chosen.

Extractions are performed for a wide variety of reasons. Extractions of impacted or problematic wisdom teeth are routinely performed, as are extractions of some permanent teeth to make space for orthodontic treatment.

The dentist will always try to recommend one or more alternative treatments, if possible. While extracting a tooth might be less expensive than the other treatment options your dentist proposes, it may not be the least expensive treatment in the long-run. Complications of removing even a single tooth can lead to other problems. Your chewing ability or jaw joint function may be compromised due to teeth alignment, and food can become trapped and more difficult to clean causing further damage to the surrounding gums and teeth.

Dr. Leibowitz will generally recommend that you replace the tooth that has been extracted because an artificial one can easily cost more than the alternative of not extracting a tooth and instead rebuilding it.