Dr. Katelyn Fenlon is a general dentist at Princess Center Dentistry in Scottsdale Arizona and today she is answering the question, how does a dentist pull a tooth? 

I prefer to use the term extracted tooth instead of pull a tooth because it’s actually there’s more finesse involved in the process than just pulling a tooth…

First, your dentist will determine that the tooth needs to come out in the first place and that there are no other ways to save the tooth and keep a tooth in your mouth. That’s always our goal–keeping the teeth you have…

If a tooth does need to come out, if it’s not savable, your dentist will get you good and numb and then gently kind of put pressure around different parts of the tooth until the tooth loosens and can be removed.

Some teeth come out really easily. Some teeth are a little more challenging.

Sometimes, your general dentist will extract a tooth. Sometimes they’ll send you to an oral surgeon or a specialist to take out a tooth, especially a wisdom tooth that’s impacted or a tooth it’s root canal treated can be more difficult to come out and it might be in the best hands of an oral surgeon. It’s really up to up to you dentist in terms of who takes out the tooth.

Options for replacing a missing tooth

Once a tooth comes out, it can be replaced either with a dental implant, with a dental bridge, or with a partial denture.

Your dentist can go through all of your options for replacing a missing tooth once the tooth is extracted and you can decide what’s best for you.

Got a question? Ask our dentist, Dr. Fenlon! Or leave it in a comment below.