Of course, everyone agrees that a layperson shouldn’t pull a tooth unless they’re on a desert island like poor Tom Hanks, their abscessed tooth is killing them, and there’s no dentist for pulling teeth around. In that case, the blade of an ice skate or anything else handy is appropriate. Everyone else needs to go to the dentist for tooth extraction.
Children who are shedding their baby teeth do not need to go to the dentist to have their teeth pulled because those teeth are supposed to fall anyway. The old trick of tying one end of a string to a baby tooth and the other to a doorknob and slamming the door shut is really not necessary.
Why Pull Teeth?
Pulling teeth is a fairly simple procedure for a dentist, but it’s sad when it has to be done. Ideally, everyone should keep all of their adult teeth. Sometimes this isn’t possible. Gum disease may have destroyed the jaw’s ability to support the tooth. The tooth nerve may be infected, or the tooth may be fractured beyond repair. There might not be room in the jaw for erupting wisdom teeth, and these teeth may be impacted. There's no special name for the dentist for pulling teeth. Dentists are taught how to pull teeth in dentistry school.
The Art of Pulling Teeth
Before the tooth is pulled, the patient is given a local anesthesia. Patients who are very nervous may be given sedation therapy. The dentist may give them Valium the night before, and they come into the office in a relaxed state. Then, they're given an injection to numb the area and laughing gas. It’s important that the patient stay awake and pain free during the procedure. However, children and patients who are really terrified might be given general anesthesia.
The dentist may place a dental dam around the tooth to isolate it. Then, they grasp the tooth with a special instrument, rotate it, and pull it out from the bone and the gum. The dentist then packs the surgical wound with gauze, and sometimes sutures the edges of the gum. Sutures either come out by themselves or are removed about three or four days after the tooth is pulled.
If the tooth is impacted, the dentist uses a scalpel to open the gum in order to get to the tooth. Sometimes, an impacted tooth needs to be removed one piece at a time.
Afterwards
The patient can go home shortly after the oral surgery, but they’ll need someone to take them home as they’ll be groggy from the anesthesia. They should rest quietly for about 24 hours, then gradually resume their regular activities. The patient should eat a soft or liquid diet, refrain from alcohol, and refrain from sucking beverages through a straw. They should remember to bite down on the gauze, and change it about ever half an hour if it becomes soaked with blood. An ice pack and analgesics are good at relieving pain. After 24 hours, the patient can rinse their mouth gently with lukewarm salt water.
This has been a short description of how to pull teeth. For the great majority of patients, there are no complications.