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Extractions
Both Dr. Navas and Dr. Johanna Paco extract teeth, including complicated extractions and wisdom teeth extractions.
General Anesthesia
Before removing a tooth, we give you a local anesthetic to numb the area where the tooth will be removed. A general anesthetic may be used, especially if several or all of your wisdom teeth will be removed at the same time. Or when there are other teeth that need extraction and are infected and swollen.
A general anesthetic prevents pain in the whole body and will make you groggy and cause you to sleep through the procedure. We askthat you don't eat or drink after midnight on the night before surgery, so you are prepared for the anesthetic.
To remove the wisdom tooth, many times we have to open up the gum tissue over the tooth and take out any bone that is covering the tooth. That allows us to separate the tissue connecting the tooth to the bone and then remove the tooth. Sometimes we will cut the tooth into smaller pieces to make it easier to remove.
After the tooth is removed, you may need stitches. Some stitches dissolve over time and some have to be removed after a few days. We will tell you whether your stitches need to be removed. A folded cotton gauze pad placed over the wound will help stop the bleeding. Pressure Stops Bleeding!
What To Expect After Surgery
In most cases, the recovery period lasts only a few days. Please take your medications as prescribed. Even if you feel much better the antibiotics work better when you take the entire dosage as prescribed. The following tips will help speed your recovery.
- Bite gently on the gauze pad periodically, and change pads as they become soaked with blood. Call your dentist or oral surgeon if you still have bleeding 24 hours after your surgery.
While your mouth is numb, be careful not to bite the inside of your cheek or lip, or your tongue.
- Prop up your head with pillows. Do not lie flat as this may prolong bleeding.
- Place an ice pack on the outside of your cheek 10 minutes on each site of extraction, for the first 12 hours.
- Relax after surgery. Physical activity may increase bleeding.
Eat soft foods, such as gelatin, pudding, a thin soup. Gradually add solid foods to your diet as healing progresses.
- Do not use a straw, smoke or rinse for the first few days. Sucking on a straw, smoking and rinsing forcefully can loosen the blood clot and delay healing because of Dry Socket.
- After the first day, gently rinse your mouth with Peridex as prescribed.
- Do not smoke for at least 24 hours after your surgery. The sucking motion can loosen the clot and delay healing. In addition, smoking decreases the blood supply and can bring germs and contaminants to the surgery area.
Avoid rubbing the area with your tongue or touching it with your fingers.
- Continue to brush your teeth and tongue carefully.
Your dentist will remove the stitches after a few days, if needed.
Why It Is Done
A wisdom tooth is extracted to correct an actual problem or to prevent problems that may come up in the future. When wisdom teeth come in, a number of problems can occur:
Your jaw may not be large enough to accommodate them, and they may become impacted and unable to break through your gums.
Your wisdom teeth may break partway through your gums, causing a flap of gum tissue to grow over them. Food and germs can become trapped under the flap and cause your gums to become red, swollen, and painful. These are signs of infection.
More serious problems can develop from impacted teeth, such as infection, damage to other teeth and bone, or the development of a cyst.
One or more of your wisdom teeth may come in at an awkward angle, with the top of the tooth facing forward, backward, or to either side.
How Well It Works
Wisdom tooth removal usually is effective in preventing:
- Crowding of the back teeth.
- A wisdom tooth becoming stuck in the jaw (impacted) and never breaking through the gums.
- Red, swollen, and painful gums caused by a flap of skin around a wisdom tooth that has only partially come in.
- Gum disease and tooth decay in the wisdom tooth, which may be harder to clean than other teeth, or in the teeth and jaw in the area of the wisdom tooth.
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