Extractions
Why Do Children Need Tooth Extractions?
We know this may sound a little scary, but in most cases, a tooth extraction for your child is a simple procedure, and needn’t cause any worry in you or your child. A dentist may recommend an extraction for your child for a number of reasons:
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The tooth is damaged by injury or trauma.
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The tooth is badly decayed.
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Baby teeth remain in place for too long and crowd
adult teeth. Extracting the tooth can help the adult
teeth come in and eliminate the need for orthodontic
treatment down the road.
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Extraction is needed to help orthodontic treatment:
removing a tooth can reduce crowding and allow your
orthodontist to straighten neighboring teeth.
What Does Tooth Extraction In Children Involve?
Getting a tooth pulled may cause some anxiety for both parents and children, but in most cases, the procedure is routine and happens to be less involved than a tooth extraction in adults.
Your dentist will first start with an X-ray to check out the tooth’s roots and condition of the bone. Generally, a local anesthetic is all that is required for a simple extraction. Next, your dentist will remove the tooth with forceps, moving the tooth in the socket. If your child has a situation that requires a more difficult extraction, it may require removing some of the gum tissue near the tooth so that it can be extracted. This kind of procedure usually requires sedation through nitrous oxide or IV. The use of sedation in pediatric dentistry is an increasingly common and safe option for children undergoing more complex dental procedures. Please see our section on nitrous oxide for more details.