Tooth extraction

In oral and maxillofacial surgery, tooth extraction means removing the tooth from its seat in the bone, called the socket. Tooth extraction is used in cases where the tooth is severely damaged, has reached a level where it cannot be saved, is no longer functional, or generally disrupts the mouth and tooth structure. Although other dental treatment methods are prioritised before moving on to extraction, in some cases extraction emerges as the best alternative and is preferred by the oral and maxillofacial surgery specialist.

If it is a simple tooth extraction, it is possible to have the tooth extracted directly under local anaesthesia. On the other hand, in some complicated extraction procedures, the tooth can be surgically extracted under local or general anaesthesia so that both the patient and the dentist are more comfortable. At this point, it is worth noting that the use of general anaesthesia in tooth extraction is quite rare, and it is observed that the procedure is mostly completed with local anaesthesia.

Tooth extraction can be performed in cases such as pathological findings in the bone, cyst or tumour formation, implant surgery or tissue preparation before a prosthesis. In some cases, the tooth that needs to be extracted may have to be divided into pieces before it can be extracted. In the surgical extraction procedure used in such cases, the tooth is divided during extraction and each piece is extracted one by one so that the surrounding tissues are exposed to less trauma. The treatment is completed after the remaining area has been completely cleaned.

Wisdom tooth extraction

Wisdom teeth are the molars that erupt last, on both sides of the jaws. It is worth noting that wisdom teeth erupt differently in everyone. Racial and hereditary characteristics, general mouth structure and eating habits are the main factors that affect how a person’s wisdom teeth erupt. Of course, wisdom teeth may also remain impacted in the jaws. In such cases, oral and maxillofacial surgery intervention is required.

If the soft tissue around your impacted wisdom tooth has started to form unwanted tissue such as inflammation or a gum abscess, it means that surgical intervention on the wisdom tooth is required. Likewise, if a wisdom tooth that is partly impacted and partly erupted is prone to decay, or if, although impacted, it has started to press on the other teeth around it, you may again need impacted tooth surgery for the wisdom tooth.

During surgery for this impacted tooth, the position, size, angle and condition of the tooth in the bone are among the main factors affecting the course of the operation. Since wisdom tooth surgery is a complicated procedure that requires meticulousness, it is important that you work with experienced dentists for this job.

Impacted tooth extraction

Impacted teeth do not always have to be wisdom teeth. The teeth we refer to as impacted teeth are actually teeth that should have erupted in the mouth but could not erupt even though their time to erupt has come. Just as there are impacted teeth that may remain completely inside the jawbone, there may also be teeth that are in the right place but cannot be seen because they are covered with soft tissue. There are many factors that cause teeth to remain impacted. Some of these are: genetic factors, cystic or tumorous formations in the eruption path of the tooth, a genuine lack of space in the jaw, syndromes, past febrile illnesses and infections, lack of space caused by decay in baby teeth that was not treated in time, or neighbouring teeth shifting as a result of early loss of baby teeth.

Impacted tooth surgery is an operation that benefits the patient not only functionally and medically, but also aesthetically. However, before recommending any surgery for impacted teeth, it should be assessed whether there is an orthodontic treatment alternative. Impacted tooth surgery is the removal of the impacted tooth from the mouth either in one piece or divided into several pieces. After the operation, pain, swelling, bruising and sensitivity in the treated bone structures are quite normal. It is possible to say that when the operation is performed by a professional oral and maxillofacial surgery specialist, these side effects will be minimal and will disappear shortly after the operation.