Generally speaking, losing a tooth is never ideal. In fact, maintaining a regular schedule of preventive dental visits and sticking to a consistently good hygiene routine should ultimately help you preserve your healthy, natural teeth. However, in some cases, saving a tooth that has been severely damaged or compromised may not be possible, and removing it could be the best way to protect the rest of your oral health. In such cases, your dentist may recommend extracting the tooth and replacing it with a lifelike prosthesis, such as a dental implant and crown.

To remove impacted wisdom teeth

Wisdom teeth, the informal name for your third set of molars, are notorious for causing a host of dental health issues and severe discomfort. This is because they often don’t have enough room to properly develop along your dental ridge, forcing them to become impacted by the second set of molars already present. If your wisdom teeth become impacted, then extracting them could be the only way to prevent them from forcing your other teeth out of place or damaging them.

To save the rest of your oral health from decay

When tooth decay develops, it is often treated by removing the decay and filling the cavity it created. In more severe cases, root canal treatment might be necessary to remove the decay from within the tooth’s pulp. In extreme cases, though, decay may enter a tooth’s root canal, which is connected to the jawbone, and pose a risk of spreading beyond the tooth. If the tooth is too diseased to properly treat, then extracting and replacing it would be the next best thing to stop the infection from spreading.

Find Out if Extraction Is Best for Your Tooth

Depending on the nature and extent of your tooth’s situation, extracting it may be more successful than trying to restore it. To learn more, schedule a consultation with Dr. Burds by calling Gateway Dental Group in Des Moines, IA, today at (515) 244-9565.