extractions

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Patient Photos

Extractions

Many times a patient may think once their problem tooth has been removed, their problems are over. This is far from the case. Most teeth today are removed because there has been an infection. Usually, much of the bone around the tooth's root has been destroyed. After a tooth extraction, the gum heals down in the socket (hole) before the bone has time to completely reform, leaving a resorbed ridge. If the socket is not "augmented" a large, often cosmetic defect will occurs.
To prevent bone resorption after extraction, we suggest the socket be filled with a material (bone graft) that reduces gum shrinkage and sometimes isolate the socket with a membrane (protective sheet) that prevents gum down growth (See Guided Tissue Regeneration). Treating the problem before it occurs is ideal. Here are some clinical photos.


This photo shows a hopeless upper bicuspid with serious bone loss. The patient lost her crown several weeks prior.	Here is the extracted, fractured tooth that could not be saved.


This is the bone defect resulting from the infection. A serious cosmetic defect would result.	A bone graft is placed in to the extraction socket to restore the lost bone.	Finally, the gum is closed over the bone graft that has been protected by a GTR membrane (see above).