As a conservative dentist, Dr. Kennington of Cowlitz River Dental in Castle Rock, WA, aims to help his patients keep their natural teeth for as long as possible—for a lifetime preferably. However, there are times when tooth extraction is necessary. In these instances, Castle Rock dentist Dr. L. Blaine Kennington is the trained and experienced dental professional you can trust to extract one or more teeth with barely any discomfort.
First of all, we understand that having your tooth extracted can be a frightening prospect. For this procedure—as well as many others—Cowlitz River Dental offers three kinds of sedation dentistry: nitrous oxide (laughing gas), oral conscious sedation and IV sedation. Depending on the type of extraction that’s necessary and your level of anxiety, Dr. Kennington will make a recommendation for what he thinks is the most appropriate form of sedation for you.
Next and in order to make sure your extraction goes as smoothly as possible, we may use cone beam 3D imaging to get a panoramic view of your mouth. With this advanced dental technology, Dr. Kennington can view your mouth from a number of different angles in order to plan the extraction more precisely.
Reasons for Tooth Extraction
The number one reason for tooth extraction is advanced tooth decay or serious injury. Although preserving a natural tooth is always Dr. Kennington’s preference, sometimes a tooth is so severely damaged by decay or traumatic injury that it is simply not salvageable. In this case when the tooth is visible, we perform a simple tooth extraction. Under a local anesthetic and sedation if you want, Dr. Kennington uses special instruments to lift and remove the tooth. To replace this extracted tooth, we offer dental implants.
Another common reason for tooth extraction is preparation for orthodontic treatment. If braces are necessary to alleviate over-crowding, then one or more teeth may need to be removed to allow the remaining to fall naturally in line.
Finally, wisdom teeth, whether erupted or impacted, often require extraction. Also called third molars, wisdom teeth are usually more susceptible to infection because they are more difficult to clean properly. In addition, they can put pressure on adjacent teeth, thereby causing misalignment, a particular problem for patients who have recently completed orthodontic treatment.
Call Our Office Today
If you would like to schedule a consultation with Dr. Kennington so you can learn more about tooth extraction or to determine whether or not you need to have a tooth extracted, then contact Cowlitz River Dental. Our Castle Rock, WA, office welcomes patients from nearby Longview, Ryderwood, Vader, Toledo, Toutle, and beyond.