- 1). Make an appointment with the family dentist to have the tooth examined. If you don't have a dentist, 1800dentist.com can refer you to an accredited dentist close to your home.
- 2). Attend the dental appointment. Allow the dental assistant to get some x-rays of the troublesome tooth. If it is a wisdom tooth, he will probably need to see what the other three look like, as it is useful to remove all four at the same time. The patient is usually sedated with IV sedation for wisdom teeth.
- 3). Explain to the dentist how the tooth came to break off; if it is only the root still stuck in the socket. Were you chewing something hard? Was the tooth hurting? Has there been any drainage from the area? Often teeth break at the gum line due to decay. When this happens, the nerve is usually dead, and infection may have set in at the end of the root tip under the gum tissue. The dentist will probably prescribe an antibiotic prior to attempting to remove the root.
- 4). Cooperate with the plan of action the dentist comes up with. Many dentists do their own extraction in-house if they are uncomplicated. In the case of impacted wisdom teeth and infected teeth fractured off at the gumline, he may opt to refer you to an oral surgeon.
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