When Does A Tooth Need To Be Extracted?

By Dr. Marco Benigni
Specialist Oral Surgeon

There are a number of situations in which it’s advisable to extract a tooth.

For the purposes of this article, I will concentrate on the extractions I carry out in my work as an oral surgeon.

Tooth extraction

Most dentists don’t feel confident about performing difficult extractions – the extractions they refer to as surgical extractions.

These are extractions where you have to go a little bit deeper and where the anatomy can be difficult.

When ‘surgical extraction’ of teeth is necessary

Such extractions require more experience – if you don’t perform them every day they are more difficult.

For example, they may be a bit closer to important structures such as nerves or arteries.

Tooth extraction procedure

Performing difficult extractions once a month is not enough to feel confident. When you start a procedure like this, you have to be able to finish it.

The main thing is to be able to manage possible complications during these procedures – to understand what can happen and what to do in cases that go wrong.

So that’s why dentists refer patients to an oral surgeon.

Reasons why a tooth extraction is necessary

Examples of when teeth need to be extracted include cases in which teeth are impacted.

Such cases usually involve wisdom teeth that are often partially or totally covered by the gum – but they still give you problems like infections or they can give you problems in the future so, as prevention, we can take them out.

When should a tooth be extracted?

Other examples include where patients cannot really clean properly between the wisdom tooth and the second molar so there’s an indication for extraction.

In patients who need orthodontic treatment, because teeth have to be moved, extractions will often be needed because otherwise there's not enough space for the movement of the other teeth.

So a wisdom tooth extraction will help with moving the teeth for the orthodontic treatment – and also for the long-term stable results of that orthodontic treatment.

Otherwise teeth can move back after the orthodontic treatment – because the wisdom teeth are still there and they're still trying to come out.