3 Times When Your Child’s Tooth Might Need Extraction

Posted March 9, 2020

One of the most important goals of children’s dental care is to help your child preserve their healthy, natural smiles to promote better oral health growth and development. Sometimes, however, that goal is interrupted by a tooth that has to be extracted, and removing it could be necessary to preserving the rest of your child’s healthy smile. Today, we examine just a few instances in which this may be required, and how extracting the tooth will promote a much healthier smile for your child, for life.

Tooth decay has eroded too much of the tooth

Tooth decay is one of the most common concerns to worry about for your child’s oral health, though it rarely needs tooth extraction to address it. That’s because, in many cases, tooth decay is detected and treated long before it becomes that severe. However, there are instances in which hesitating to treat the tooth could allow the decay to progress more severely than expected. Or, your child’s tooth may be fractured and its inner tissues exposed to harmful oral bacteria. This can lead to an immediately severe case of decay that can erode significant amounts of the tooth. If the decay is extreme enough to erode most of the tooth’s healthy structure, then removing what remains of it may be the best way to protect the rest of your child’s smile.

It’s necessary to create space for further treatment

Extracting your child’s tooth, even a primary one before it’s time, is typically reserved for extreme cases, but tooth decay isn’t the only thing that can become that serious. For instance, tooth misalignment can also significantly impact your child’s oral health, bite function, and the growth and development of their oral structures. Orthodontic correction can often adjust this alignment to correct it, though in severe cases, a tooth may be too misaligned to correct with the rest. Extracting a severely crooked tooth may be necessary to ensure the success of orthodontic treatment and the improvement of your child’s overall oral health.

One of the primary teeth won’t fall out

Primary teeth are meant to fall out eventually, which is why extracting one may seem less serious than removing a more permanent adult tooth. Until it’s ready to fall out, the primary tooth should remain to continue preparing the way for your child’s proper oral health development. In rare cases, though, a primary tooth may not fall out when it’s supposed to, and its presence can impede the eruption of the permanent tooth underneath. To avoid complications with your child’s oral health development, we can extract the primary tooth once we recognize that it’s time for the permanent tooth to grow in.

Learn if your child’s tooth needs extraction

Tooth extraction is rare when it comes to children’s dental treatment, but when it’s necessary, it’s best not to hesitate. To learn more, schedule an appointment by calling Pediatric Dental Care at Casa Linda in Dallas, TX today at 214-321-4880. We proudly serve patients who live around Casa Linda and all surrounding Dallas communities.