The dentists at Tucson Premier Smiles in Tucson, Arizona, strive to keep the mouth healthy and to preserve as many natural teeth as possible. Retaining as many natural teeth as possible has increasingly been shown as the healthiest option available. Unfortunately, some injuries or infections make it necessary to pull a tooth. Fortunately, having a tooth pulled (extraction) is not as bad as it used to be in the past.
When teeth needed to be pulled before anesthetic became widely available, it was a painful and traumatic procedure. Most people did not see a dentist until something was terribly wrong and extractions were common at that point. Modern medicine has proven that good oral hygiene and proper prevention can preserve most teeth throughout adulthood.
Tooth extraction is now a simple and painless process that has the patient back to a normal schedule by the next day in most cases. The initial pinching sensation of the anesthetic injection is also dulled by a numbing gel placed on the gums beforehand.
When the area around the affected tooth is fully numb, gently rocking the tooth will loosen it from the socket, and the goal is to remove it in one piece. Although some teeth come out in pieces, it is done without pain and completely out in no time.
