Dentists don’t perform tooth extractions unless they’re absolutely necessary — so it may come as a surprise that they sometimes do them for cosmetic reasons. In the midst of a dental emergency, extraction is a last resort option for dental decay or damage beyond repair. If an infection cannot be cured with antibiotics or root canal treatment, extraction can become a necessary evil. But in cases of cosmetic dentistry — especially orthodontics — extraction is done for aesthetic purposes. It’s almost always done in the name of functionality, as well.
In this blog post, we’ll explore some cosmetic dental treatments that can involve tooth extraction. Let’s start with something simple.
Tooth Extraction to Resolve Dental Crowding
Extracting teeth to resolve dental crowding is not a cosmetic procedure per se, but it often has aesthetic outcomes. When teeth align imperfectly, some teeth overlap or occupy excessive space in the mouth — this is called crowding. If a tooth is too large or far off course to prove useful, removing it can be an easy fix. This will not only make your smile look better, but it will also reduce the risk of cavities and wear.
When teeth are too close together, they become more difficult to reach with a toothbrush — and when teeth touch more than they’re meant to, the resulting friction can wear them down sooner. That’s why we almost always recommend tooth extraction for purposes beyond aesthetics. The most commonly removed teeth are the molars, incisors, and bicuspids, while the canines are among the less commonly extracted.
Molars
Because molars have a larger surface area than other teeth, they are common targets for extraction. When dentists remove molars, they leave more room for orthodontic adjustments. On the other hand, molars are so large that dentists may need to grant them breathing space by removing surrounding premolars.
Incisors
Extracting incisors is the inverse of getting your two front teeth for Christmas — it involves removing one or more of your most visible teeth: the centremost four of each respective arch. When the incisor section becomes decidedly too populated, removing one or a few can restore day-to-day functionality and make it look better.
Bicuspids
Bicuspids are located between the incisors and the molars. They are commonly removed to prepare the mouth for orthodontic treatment (more on that later).
Canines
Canines are those little ‘fangs’ that sit right next door to the incisors. Occasionally, these teeth will crowd or sit above neighbouring teeth, achieving little else than giving a vampiric appearance. When this happens, your best course of action is to free up space by removing the offending ‘fang’ (or ‘fangs’).
Wisdom Teeth Removal
While wisdom teeth removal is — more or less — a form of tooth extraction to resolve crowding, it earns its own subsection because it’s one of the more common and well-known procedures. Like the appendix, wisdom teeth had an evolutionary purpose (to assist in chewing tougher foods), but are redundant from a contemporary perspective. When our ancestors created cutting tools and cooking methods to make chewing easier, our diet became softer and our biting force less intense. Consequently, our mandibles became shorter and thicker, leaving minimal space for wisdom teeth to come through. This lack of space often leads to impaction, where wisdom teeth become trapped beneath the gum or push against other teeth.
Wisdom teeth eruption, while not experienced by everyone, usually happens during the late teens or early twenties — an age at which you’re ‘wiser’ than when you developed all other teeth in childhood. When it happens, it usually causes crowding or misalignment, setting your smile off course. In simple cases, you can get wisdom teeth removed under local anaesthetic, but many cases of wisdom tooth extraction are complicated by impaction, necessitating sleep dentistry or general anaesthesia. The greater the complications and the more teeth that require removal, the more surgical the procedure becomes.
Invisalign®
Orthodontic adjustments made with traditional braces or clear aligners sometimes require tooth extraction. If you’re experiencing misalignment severe enough to require braces or Invisalign®, tooth extraction may be necessary to free up space for the straightening process. It’s all well and good to shift teeth into their ‘correct’ positions, but if there’s a tooth or two too big to fit into that new configuration, it has to leave prior to the process beginning. Ideally, this won’t be necessary, but it’s often unavoidable in cases of severe crowding. It’s also not uncommon to remove wisdom teeth in preparation for Invisalign® treatment.
Need a Tooth Pulled?
When we think of cosmetic dentistry, we usually think of treatments like dental veneers. Teeth whitening may also spring to mind. Zoom procedures are all the rage right now! But dental cosmetics sometimes blend with orthodontics, and that’s how tooth extraction can come into the picture. Sometimes, you need to declutter — and decluttering can pave the way for deeper work.
Whether you have a niggling, misaligned tooth or need to prepare a plan for major orthodontic correction, you can count on Stanley St. Dental to deliver your dream smile. Book your appointment today and we’ll see if tooth extraction is on the cards for you.