Friday, May 21, 2010

Tooth extraction: How long does the appt take?

How long does an appt take to remove one tooth? Thanks!

Tooth extraction: How long does the appt take?
It depends on the tooth, the shape and reason for taking it it. I've taken out 4 wisdom teeth in 7 minutes as well as taken 2 hours to remove a badly damaged 1st year molar
Reply:Is it a 3rd molar (wisdom tooth)? Is it erupted or impacted?


If you're going to an Oral Surgeon (who does this all day long) the longest part is waiting for the numbness to take full effect (maybe 15 minutes if it's the lower)


The actual procedure is about 10 minutes maximum with gentleness and with no complications.
Reply:Aloha from Down Unda!


Naturally any tooth extraction is full of anxiety but don't worry...within 30 minutes it's done with 15 minutes max to allow the antistetic to kick in...it's jest a moment of tugging %26amp; boom - yer done! The worst part is feeling the void afterwards! The care is important to keep it clean %26amp; dry to avoid the 'dry socket' syndrome. Mine was done last year %26amp; it's like loosing an old friend!


Best wishes
Reply:It all depends....i had 2 teeth pulled in about 15 mins....but if his teeth are decayed it might take longer....i had a simple extraction....they might have to cut his gums...it probably wont be over an hour
Reply:If the dentist is good it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes, usually it is longer the wait for the numbness to sink in.
Reply:I had to have a wisdom tooth taken out, but it was still under the gum practically completely. It had absessed, hense needing it removed. That took over an hour, but you can understand why.
Reply:It depends on the tooth. On an adult with a brittle old tooth it can take longer than usual. Some extractions are fairly quick-a shot of novocaine and a good yank %26amp; its out. However, wisdom teeth are always more difficult but luckily his is not a wisdom tooth (as you said). I will provide you some insight on my last 2 dental extractions (2 VERY DIFFERENT experiences) below and hopefully this will give you some idea of what your husband can expect.


When I was 18-19 yrs. old I had the WORST TOOTHACHE,I went to an "emergency dentist" on Thanksgiving who offered 2 options-save the tooth by starting an expensive root canal that would require several follow up visits and cost several hundred dollars or pull the tooth out for $100, I chose the PULL and he shot me with novocaine %26amp; grabbed the tooth real hard with "pliers"(or at least they looked like pliers) and he just yanked it out-it was so quick that a snot flew out of my nose as he pulled it out, he sent me on my way, I even was able to eat later-NOT BAD AT ALL-hopefully your husband his this experience and NOT THE NEXT ONE.


The next time I needed an extraction I was about 26-27 yrs. old %26amp; the toothache was due to a tooth that MANY YEARS before I saw an emergency oral surgeon in the ER due to severe toothache %26amp; she would not pull it out in the ER, instead she said she would get me "out of pain" but I would need to follow up with a dentist, and she proceeded to basically "start" a root canal, I guess she removed the root that was causing the pain %26amp; I think she actually pulled out a little piece of the tooth that was causing pressure %26amp; pain %26amp; she did GET ME OUT OF PAIN, so of course I never followed up with a dentist because I felt fine("if it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality I have) and then at least 7 yrs. later (I was now 26 or 27) that HORRIFIC, THROBBING, feel like your going to die pain came back from the same tooth-


So I went to a dentist to see if I could get some more roots taken out or whatever could be done to save the tooth(I was now older and wiser) but he said the only option then was an extraction, apparently the tooth had died and since I never had the root canal completed back then, it was now too late and it had to come out, but this tooth(according to him) was very brittle and was going to be difficult to get out(I was ready for him to do it on the spot but he had to schedule a "special time slot", I thought he was over-reacting but boy was I wrong. I was in that dentist chair for at least 40 minutes to over an hour-it seemed like forever. He gave me 2 shots of Novocaine right from the start and then proceeded to pull this way and that way and he even had his foot on the side of the chair trying to pull this thing out. He kept asking me if it hurt or if I was ok every 2 minutes. I was numb, just felt all the pulling and it hurt to keep my mouth open so wide. Then he pulled out a little hammer like tool and what seemed to be a little chisel and I kid you not, he proceeded to hold the chisel on my tooth and hammer away at it, he was trying to break the tooth into pieces, apparently it was so brittle and damaged/decayed from all those years of not having the root canal completed that he could not get it out in one piece. After he hammered and chiseled for a while he tried pulling again-and he started to look worried when nothing was coming out. He gave me more Novocaine and then hammered and chiseled away some more, he looked like he was doing "demolition on a house" thats how much effort and energy he was putting into the hammering and chiseling.


When he started pulling again, he got a small piece out and I actually started to feel pain (even with al that Novocaine), so he gave me even more Novocaine and I remember him not only injecting the gums around that tooth but also in my cheek I think (at least thats what it felt like). He started getting some pieces out but it was this huge process of more hammering and chiseling, then more pulling, and so on and so on. When it was finally over there were so many little pieces of tooth on the tray, he had to extract it in lots of tiny little pieces and my face and head were already throbbing (I wasn't feeling the pain in my mouth yet, just the pressure on my face from all the pounding), well he gave me some prescriptions and as I was driving home the Novocaine must have just suddenly completely wore off because all of a sudden I was in the worst pain, like I didn't know if I would make it home, I was crying, my mouth and tooth area felt 10 times worse than before I had it pulled and not only that but my face, head, cheek, lips, all felt like someone had beat me up and been punching my face. Overall, it was a TERRIBLE HORRIBLE experience and I was in SEVERE pain (even with prescription painkillers) for at least 2 or 3 days. So, my point is that the extraction can go either way.


Both of these teeth that I had removed were basically the same size and in the same general area of my mouth, the first one on the left side toward the back and the second one on the right side toward the back (about 3 teeth from the back). One came out easy with no problem when I was younger and the other was a nightmare because it was brittle, missing a piece and severely decayed. I guess it depends on what condition your husbands tooth is in and how old he is. Hope this helps.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.