Despite your best efforts, teeth sometimes need to be removed to protect your health. When we've discussed all other possibilities, and you've decided on extraction, we'll take every step to help you. Your well-being always takes priority in any treatment decision. Some patients prefer sedation to help with oral surgery, and we can review these options in your treatment plan. We take every measure to make sure even minor surgical procedures are as comfortable as possible.

Some teeth are removed more easily than others, but the Pacific Dental Care team takes pride in helping every patient get numb with modern anesthesia. Once the anesthesia takes effect, our doctors will use specialized instruments to elevate the tooth out of place. You will receive specific post-op instructions to help you care for the area after your procedure.

While our immediate concern is the short-term management of your care, we will also discuss your long-term plans for replacing missing teeth. Leaving a space is always an option, but spaces in your smile can create appearance and function challenges that are important to consider. Teeth slowly shift or migrate into open spaces and minimizing the effects of an unbalanced bite now can prevent issues later in life.

Although our primary goal at Pacific Dental Care in Pleasanton, CA, is to help your teeth stay healthy and functional, an extraction is sometimes the best way to preserve the overall health of your mouth. Since teeth help nourish our bodies and support our confidence, we will help you create a plan that fits your short and long-term goals.

Toothaches are a vivid reminder that teeth aren't just pieces of hard tissue floating around in the gums. They are intricately formed sensory organs with layers of dentin and enamel protecting a living pulp. Coursing through the tooth's pulp is a vital bundle of nerves and blood vessels providing nutrients and sensation to each tooth. As long as the pulp stays healthy, you're rarely aware of the systems at work.

Tooth pain can be especially alarming, but it's meant to warn you that something's not right. Pain tells us that the bundle of nerves and vessels inside your tooth is irritated, damaged, or under attack.

A deep cavity can give bacteria access to the inner nerve bundle. In some cases, a significant infection, called an abscess, may develop in your jaw without any symptoms at all. Our doctors may suggest a root canal if we determine that the nerve won’t recover or if an infection present.

Modern anesthetics provide powerful numbing for the gentle removal of the inflamed nerve inside the tooth. The nerve canal undergoes disinfection and careful shaping, and a sealer fills the internal space. A filling or crown over the tooth helps return the tooth to its original function.

Are Root Canals Safe?

Internet articles continue to circulate claiming adverse health effects from root canals, despite years of research proving otherwise. Many of these claims rest on false theories put forward decades ago without any scientific basis. In fact, one popular Facebook article sounding a false alarm shakily rests on a 100-year-old study tossed aside long ago.

At Pacific Dental Care in Pleasanton, CA, we are devoted to providing the safest treatments possible. The American Association of Endodontists stays abreast of all research and can support the safety of this vital service. In fact, new techniques and materials make root canal treatment more successful than ever.

Minor surgical procedures involving the teeth, gums, and jaw may be needed to preserve or enhance long-term health. While our philosophy rests on maintaining teeth, each situation deserves consideration. So when the discussion we have together leads to a surgical correction, our doctors will take every step necessary to ensure your comfort and safety.

A damaged tooth may need removal if it's beyond repair. We also understand patients sometimes choose to remove a tooth due to financial limitations. We'll always work hard to help you find the solution that fits every aspect of your situation. At Pacific Dental Care in Pleasanton, CA, we only used the best methods and cutting edge technology to deliver quick and painless procedures. Sedation options also offer a range of anxiety-reduction methods that you may wish to consider as well.

Biopsies of suspicious tissue, reshaping of gum defects, or removal of obtrusive bone present scenarios that may also involve surgical correction.

On occasion, our doctors may refer you to a trusted specialist. Any time we feel you'll be served best by a colleague trained in a particular treatment, we won't hesitate to use the best resources for your care.

We can only imagine what our bodies would look like without bones. This scaffolding provides support, form, and protection to our organs and delicate tissue. The bone around your teeth, called alveolar bone, holds the teeth firmly in place. The particular height, shape, and density of this specialized bone can be compromised due to gum disease, tooth removal, and other forms of trauma.

If bone shrinks away from your teeth, it never grows back. In some cases, bone can be encouraged to fill in with grafting materials placed by our doctors. Every situation presents a different scenario, but more options than ever exist to promote bone repair in the jaw. For example, when a tooth needs removal, a large hole then exists in the bone. While it will eventually fill in, the site tends to shrink, drawing bone away from the area jeopardizing surrounding teeth. Grafting materials can be placed at the time of tooth removal to help preserve the existing bone level. Bone grafts are especially beneficial if you are considering an implant-supported restoration in the future.

Even areas that have already suffered bone collapse can often benefit from specialized grafting material, bolstering nearly any part of the jaw bone. It's important to note: bone destroyed by gum disease often leaves significant defects around teeth. While some of these areas are grafting candidates, many of them experience irreversible bone loss. Controlling gum disease with your Pacific Dental Care team in Pleasanton, CA, will serve your health much better than corrective surgical grafts.

If you’re between the ages of 16-25 years, a discussion about your wisdom teeth should take place. Wisdom teeth, a third set of molars, appear in the very back of each area of your mouth: Upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right. In a few patients, enough space exists for these molars to move into place. But most commonly, they just don’t belong, or they’re not lined up correctly. Wisdom teeth can lay entirely on their sides or lean at various angles into the neighboring teeth.

When evaluating wisdom teeth, our doctors will consider four general classifications. A panoramic x-ray provides a vital tool for determining the classification of each wisdom tooth.

It’s even possible one patient may display one of each type:

• Erupted: This simply means the tooth moved through the surface of the gums just like your other teeth. Eruption generally doesn’t occur before age 16, but can happen at nearly any age after that. It may have adequate space for its position.
• Soft Tissue Impaction/Partially Erupted: The top of the tooth has emerged from the bone although excessive gum tissue usually covers it. Food trapped in the gum flap can lead to decay and infection.
• Partial Bony Impaction: The majority of the tooth sits below the jawbone level, although it’s beginning to emerge. A large flap of gum lies over this tooth and leaves it prone to infection and decay as mouth bacteria slip into the area.
• Complete Bony Impaction: In this case, the tooth has not broken the surface and remains entirely encased in the bone. While the risk of infection is low, a small percentage of these will form a cyst in the jaw. This hollow space can expand and result in fracture of the jaw.

Wisdom teeth causing pain and infection give a clear warning sign that treatment needs consideration. But some problems can also slowly develop without your awareness. If you’re an adult with wisdom teeth, be sure they’re evaluated periodically for changes using a panoramic x-ray.

If you are considering wisdom teeth removal, our doctors can discuss treatment options with you. At Pacific Dental Care in Pleasanton, CA, we offer various forms of sedation that puts this minor surgical procedure within reach of every patient that needs it.