Tooth Extractions

While it’s always our goal to care for and maintain your natural teeth, there are cases when removing a tooth is in your best interest. We work to make extractions as easy as possible so you can concentrate on a quick recovery.

Tooth Extractions in Deer Park, TX

Tooth extraction is typically a very fast process—we will use anesthesia to ensure you’re comfortable. The most critical part of the process is recovery. We need to ensure we control the bleeding and encourage a proper healing process immediately following the tooth extraction. This involves having you bite down on a gauze pad for 30 to 45 minutes to form a blood clot—you must be extremely careful not to disturb the blood clot for the next 24 hours. To manage the swelling, we recommend an ice pack on the outer cheek, and once the swelling has gone down, a warm compress to the same area for comfort. Gentle rinses with warm salt water also help keep the extraction area clean.

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How do I prevent dry socket after tooth extraction?

When you have a tooth extracted, you develop a blood clot shortly after the surgery. This is the beginning of the healing process. If this blood clot becomes dislodged before your mouth has fully healed, then it can cause pain because the bone is exposed again. This is called dry socket.

Six tips for avoiding dry socket are:

Avoid straws or anything that creates a suction movement of air and cheek muscles.
Avoid smoking tobacco as fast inhalation can dislodge your blood clot and the chemicals may prevent healing or cause an infection.
Eat soft foods only like applesauce, yogurt, and mashed potatoes for the first one or two days.
Inquire about any medicines you’re taking to ensure they don’t interact with the healing process.
Use proper oral hygiene to keep your mouth clean and consider an antibacterial mouthwash.
Follow your doctor’s instruction on proper oral care to improve recovery time.

See our detailed aftercare instructions, for adults and children, using the links below.

What causes the need for tooth extraction?

Tooth extraction is the removal of a tooth from its socket in the bone. Teeth extraction usually occurs when a tooth has been broken or damaged by decay and there is too much damage for the tooth to be repaired by a filling or crown. However, there are other reasons for tooth extraction including, extra teeth growing in that are blocking others, baby teeth that haven’t fallen out in time for the permanent teeth to come in, braces, or wisdom teeth that are commonly removed for medical reasons.