Tooth extraction – when a tooth cannot be kept
When a tooth has to be removed, how simple and surgical removal differ, and what happens to the jawbone afterwards.
Not every tooth can be saved. If the root is fractured, the neck of the tooth destroyed or the root so curved that it cannot be treated, removal is the only option left.
Simple or surgical
If the tooth still sits firmly enough in the bone, it is loosened and lifted out. If it is brittle or lies crosswise – as some wisdom teeth do – the gum is opened and the tooth is removed in pieces. That spares the surrounding bone more than pulling with force would.
What matters afterwards
After every removal the bone recedes at that spot. Anyone considering an implant later should raise it early: the profession has methods that support the bone immediately after the extraction, rather than rebuilding it laboriously later on.