Extractions / Oral Surgery

Oral surgery is the branch of dentistry that involves the extraction of teeth. Very often, your own dentist will carry out your extractions but, in some cases, you may be referred to us for the procedure. These more complex treatments include removal of impacted teeth, wisdom teeth and broken teeth, and also the exposure of misplaced teeth. These situations often require a minor surgical procedure but, in experienced hands, this is generally straightforward and should not be a cause for anxiety.

Some teeth that are heavily decayed or badly broken broken down cannot be saved. This is also true for some teeth that are surrounded by advanced gum disease, so much so that the tooth is loose beyond repair. If these teeth are left in place then further problems can occur, like pain, infection, abscesses, and the spread of gum disease. Hence they need to be extracted to prevent such problems. Some of these teeth that require extraction are either broken at gum level, or already were below the level of the gum.

In order the remove these teeth, a “surgical” extraction is required. This involves making a little nick in the gum, in order to uncover the tooth, so that we can remove it in full. This is a very simple procedure that in most cases is carried out under local anaesthetic (with an injection).

Patients cannot feel discomfort during this procedure, as the local anaesthetic used removed all sensations of pain. Where appropriate, this procedure can also be carried out with sedation (see nervous patients section) or under general anaesthetic.

Many people require removal of their wisdom teeth, as there is not enough room in the jaws to allow them to come through normally. When this is the case, the teeth sometimes start to come through the gum on their sides, and hence some of the tooth is visible poking through the gum. In other cases, the wisdom teeth remain buried below the gum entirely. In many of the above cases, these wisdom teeth cause pain and infections as when they are below the gum, we cannot keep them clean and hence it is common that food gets trapped around them and infections can develop. Not all people who have wisdom teeth buried in the gum require them to be removed. This is discussed on an individual basis, following a clinical and radiographic (x-ray) exam. The wisdom teeth are only removed when it is felt that there will be an obvious benefit to the patient in doing so. Such benefits would include preventing pain, decay and infection that are already present, or such symptoms that appear to be developing.

Some adult teeth remain buried in the gum and do not erupt along with other teeth into the proper position. It can look like that these teeth are missing as they are not visible in the mouth. However, when some patients attend an orthodontist in order to have their teeth straightened, an x-ray can reveal that these teeth are present, buried in the gum. If the orthodontist feels that this is a good tooth, and one that can be aligned with the others, then they may request that you attend our clinic for an “exposure”. This is where we make a nick in the gum, to uncover the tooth for the orthodontist. On some occasions we will place an orthodontic bracket on the tooth for the orthodontist, or in other cases we will let the tooth exposed for the orthodontist to put on their own bracket. With this bracket, they will be able to move the tooth into the desired position, in line with the other teeth.