Types of Treatment

An impacted tooth is another way of describing a tooth that gets stuck in the back of the jaw and does not break through the gum line into place in the mouth. Many people experience this problem with an impacted third molar, known as a wisdom tooth. The reason this is a problem is that an impacted tooth can lead to infection, swelling, and plenty of pain as a result of crowding. Since wisdom teeth do not serve any meaningful purpose, they can be extracted easily.

The maxillary cuspid is another tooth that commonly becomes impacted. This is the upper eyetooth, which has the longest roots of any tooth in your mouth and helps ensure a proper bite. Treatment of this tooth can help aid in its effort to burst into proper position.

To spot teeth that are having trouble erupting, a dental exam and x-ray will be done, typically when a patient is about seven years old. These exams will determine if all adult teeth are present and if there are signs of crowding or eruption issues. The removal of impacted teeth may be recommended before the problem gets worse as the patient ages.

A solution to the issue of teeth that are not erupting and slotting into the proper space is the use of braces and orthodontic brackets. These will help to lift up the gum that is covering the tooth and help guide the tooth into the proper location.

Treatment to expose and bracket an impacted tooth can be completed in our Fayetteville, NC office. This is a pretty routine procedure that is completed using local anesthesia and laughing gas. Treatment will generally take more than an hour to complete.

Recovery from treatment of an impacted tooth should be pretty quick. There may be some pain, discomfort, and bleeding in the hours after surgery. Over-the-counter medication is typically the best remedy for these issues and likely won’t be needed after two-to-three days. Soft foods will be recommended to eat at first, but the resumption of a normal diet can begin to take place once a patient feels comfortable chewing again. Some sharp foods like chips or crackers should be avoided as the healing process gets underway.

When you have teeth that are suffering from major problems, they may need to be extracted to avoid dangerous complications. While a tooth extraction certainly isn’t pleasant, it can be done safely and easily by an expert dental surgeon. Southeastern Dental Specialists is a trusted choice you can count on for tooth extraction procedures.

Reasons that tooth extraction may be an option for you include help and relief for teeth that have become severely decayed or have fallen victim to periodontal disease. We can also extract teeth that have been fractured as a result of an accident. In these cases, we can use a local anesthetic to comfortably remove problem teeth for you. We also offer IV sedation if you wish to be put under while your tooth is removed.

Extractions may also be necessary in cases where the bone supporting your teeth has run into complications. The bone supporting your tooth may have sharp edges and undercuts that make it hard for a full or partial denture to be placed there. We can smooth out and remove these sharp edges. We can also remove bony growths that can typically be found by the lower jaw under the tongue that make it harder for a partial or full denture to be placed.

Trust the experienced oral surgeons at Southeastern Dental Specialists to safely manage your tooth extraction. We have years of experience and training in this area. We can make the entire process perfectly comfortable for you. Call us today for more information.

Oral surgery procedures at Southeastern Dental Specialists can be done in safe, comfortable fashion, typically with the use of local anesthetic. However, there are some cases where patients may still feel uncomfortable with these treatments, even with the local anesthetic. Many procedures may induce dental anxiety in patients, or simply might make patients uncomfortable to be awake and aware of what’s going on while they are happening. In these cases, IV sedation may be a better option for patients.

Southeastern Dental Specialists takes a team approach to offering IV sedation in our office. We have a team of trusted oral surgeons who perform the necessary procedures with the help of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, who provide the IV sedation to patients throughout the process. What IV sedation will do is put patients under, so they basically sleep through the entire surgery. This way, they do not experience any pain, discomfort, or anxiety while the surgery is completed.

Our team will prep you for IV sedation by first determining if you’re a good candidate for sedation. Some patients have medical issues that make IV sedation less than ideal for them. Also, you will be provided with instructions to follow to prepare for sedation, such as nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before surgery, the help of an adult to accompany you to the surgery and drive you home, the wearing of a short-sleeved shirt, and other special instructions.

Contact Southeastern Dental Specialists today to learn about how we handle IV sedation and how we keep patients safe.

Issues like bleeding and swelling are common after the removal of a tooth, so you can imagine that the appearance of these issues would increase tenfold if you’re having multiple teeth removed. In these cases, multiple teeth are often being removed to make way for the placement of a denture. For these treatments, your bone will need to be shaped and smoothed prior to the denture being added. With that, you can expect the surgical site will swell and some discoloration will be noticed.

To deal with the swelling after the removal of multiple teeth, make sure to be using ice packs and a moist, warm towel on the area of extraction over your cheeks. Stop using the ice packs after the first 36 hours of surgery is up and start using the warm towel for the next 36 hours.