Tooth Extraction

A tooth extraction in our office is always done with care. First, our dentists assess the strength of the surrounding bone. This dictates the method and techniques used to remove the tooth. At the same time, our experts determine if you need a bone graft. In many cases, our dentists fill the void with a synthetic material to preserve the jaw. In addition, our dentists carefully evaluate your gums. The gum tissue needs to be carefully fitted over the void to ensure proper healing. Finally, our experienced team plans the tooth extraction in conjunction with any future treatment. For example, many patients want a dental implant, dental bridge, or orthodontic procedures like Invisalign. And then we carefully, gently, professional extract your tooth in our office.

From common wisdom teeth to difficult ones that are sideways or embedded in solid bone, our dentists know their stuff. In fact, we take pride in our usually fast and painless procedures. Feeling anxious? Simply ask our surgeon to put you to sleep for your tooth extraction. You simply wake up and it’s done! On the other hand, if you wish to remain awake we relax you with a massage chair, a movie through 3D goggles, and nitrous oxide (laughing gas) or better yet be sedated. Finally, if you plan to replace the extracted tooth with a dental implant, our dentists often perform the extraction and dental implant in one convenient appointment.

Usually, when a patient goes to a dentist for tooth extraction, it is done the traditional way; it’s inexpensive and it works. Local anesthesia is applied to numb the site. And then pliers are used to wiggle the tooth until it is taken out. In some cases, when the tooth hasn’t come out fully from the gum line, then the tooth may break into pieces, and that may need further cutting into the gums first. But there is a less invasive way of doing that and that is to use the Piezo Ultrasonic Surgery system. 

What Is It?

The Piezo is the latest innovation in dental surgery. This device uses ultrasonic vibrations, which can be adjusted to very precise settings. With this device, we can cut only rock hard surfaces such as bone, leaving soft pink gum tissue unaffected, and with greater precision at that. It offers a better feeling for the patient, by providing less bruising, trauma, and pain on the gum tissue, along with a general overall comfort at the time of the removal. 

Advantages and Benefits

The main problem with the traditional method of tooth extraction is that when we wiggle the tooth repeatedly, it puts a lot of stress into the jawbone and the gums. All that wiggling is meant to loosen the hold of the jawbone and the gums from the tooth to be extracted, but it also causes trauma, bruising and downtime from your life, work and general comfort. With the Piezo Bone Surgery machine, all these are minimized. The machine can also help with extraction of teeth that have not come out from the gum line. The vibrations can loosen the tooth in place much easier than traditional extraction methods. 

Recovery after Your Piezo Minimally Invasive Surgery

With less trauma to the jawbone and the gums during the tooth removal, patients will feel little discomfort after the procedure, and are able to get back to normally faster. And what’s more, the recovery period will be shorter. 

Extraction sites tend to shrink as they are healing after extraction of teeth. That shrinkage is in both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Typically that results in gums shrinking and showing in a lower position too which could become an esthetic concern in front teeth; the shrinkage of the bone also affects the surrounding bone and teeth’s stability, which really is the oral health of the individual long term. Furthermore, if there is a desire to have implants placed, bone grafting will help keep the dimensions of the bone and create a better foundation for implant placement. 

There are different options at this point for grafting material itself; it could be human or animal-derived, or synthetic. They have different use cases depending on what’s at hand. 

An Alternative to Bone Graft

Extracted teeth have historically been considered a clinical waste, and therefore, simply discarded. However, as of recent, one’s tooth/teeth that are just extracted and are in good qualifying condition can be used for grafting; this is called Dentin Autograft. 

The benefits of using your own graft

Since the grafting material is from one’s own body, it heals faster and there are not a lot of complications in terms of not integrating well into one’s body. The density of the bone that comes from this grafting is also quite great; and if the bone graft is used for an implant site, it’ll create great implant stability. 

What is Involved?

Through the use of a KometaBio device, we are able to take the patient’s extracted tooth and turn it into autologous grafting material within 15 minutes for the same person. Right after the extraction of the tooth (that could be wisdom teeth or another one without any root canal or sever decay), the tooth is cleaned, prepped and dried before being placed into our sterile grinding chamber to reduce the tooth to granular particles which can then be used as autogenous grafting material for the same person.

That’s right. Regardless of what dental insurance you have (or if you have no insurance), at Soothing Dental we offer membership plans that cover up to 25% of a tooth extraction. Whether you get one tooth extraction in our office or ten, the plan covers everything up to 25%. There’s no annual limit to our plan coverage! And these plans cover a lot more. If you want to replace that missing tooth with a dental implant, our plans cover up to 25% of that too. The dentists want to provide high quality and accessible care. That’s why we created these amazing Soothing Dental Membership Plans.

Meet with your dentist today to see if you need a tooth extraction. You’re reading about extractions right now for a reason. Come in for a consultation and have all of your questions answered. We welcome same- or next-day appointments. Simply call or text 415-989-3953 or book an appointment online now.

Read More About Tooth Extraction and Bone Grafting:

• Tooth Extraction FAQ