Tooth Extraction & Wisdom Tooth Removal

Emergency Dental Care When You Need It

Are you suffering from a severe toothache? Do you need fast relief, without waiting a long time to see a dentist who can help? Severe toothaches can cause significant pain and discomfort that requires prompt dental attention. At Smile by Design, we aim to provide timely care to address your dental emergency. We provide attentive services to our existing patients, as well as emergency visits to new patients. In many cases, we can even deal with emergencies outside our normal business hours.

Our goal is to:

• Relieve your discomfort as soon as possible.
• Provide clear, predictable treatment planning so that you never have any unexpected response.
• Minimise your time spent out of work or school
• Provide effective, long-term solutions for the replacement of your missing teeth

Common Reasons Teeth Need to be Extracted

Dr. Tam will always discuss treatment options with you, and try to avoid extracting a tooth if he can. But sometimes an extraction is the most clinically appropriate option for your overall dental health. Here are some common reasons:

• Relief of toothache pain
• Severe tooth decay
• Dental abscesses
• Broken teeth
• Advanced periodontal disease

Fast Pain Relief

Before you call, you can help alleviate your symptoms by taking Ibuprofen and pressing a warm compress against the side of your cheek. We ask that you call us as soon as possible for an emergency appointment. If you are an existing patient, we can prescribe any necessary pain relief medication to help ease your symptoms if you’re out of town and can’t see us right away. We also provide an after-hours call service for existing patients, so that you can get help if you experience an emergency outside normal business hours. Smile by Design aims to accommodate emergency cases as quickly as possible — call us to discuss availability.

What is the Treatment Like?

All our dental therapies, especially dental extractions, use local anaesthetics to ensure your comfort before the actual treatment begins. The quicker we can alleviate your symptoms, the better the care we can provide. This is why we work so hard to see you as soon as you arrive at our office. Smile by Design patients know that we are dedicated to keeping them comfortable throughout their entire dental experience. After the area is numbed, Dr. Tam removes the infected tooth and prescribes any necessary medications to ease the pain or clear up infections. Most people can return to work the following day, and the soft tissue typically heals within 2–4 weeks, though healing times vary between patients

What Happens After my Extraction?

Losing a tooth can affect the other teeth in your mouth, allowing them to shift out of place over time. Dr. Tam will discuss this with you prior to your extraction, and identify methods of tooth replacement prior to removing your tooth. This way you can have a clear plan in advance of having your tooth removed, and know exactly what to expect afterwards.

Contact Us for an Emergency Dental Appointment

Smile by Design provides emergency scheduling, affordable treatment planning, clear cost communication before treatment begins, and and discuss long-term treatment options for tooth replacement where appropriate. Call us immediately to let us know you’re on your way. We work emergency appointments into our schedule each day, and can even arrange to see you outside normal business hours.

Risk Disclosure

Risks and Considerations
Tooth extraction is an invasive dental procedure and carries risks including post-operative pain, swelling and bruising, bleeding, infection of the extraction socket (dry socket — alveolar osteitis), damage to adjacent teeth or restorations, nerve involvement causing temporary or persistent altered sensation, sinus complications for upper molar extractions, and incomplete removal of tooth fragments requiring further treatment.
Wisdom tooth removal carries additional risks depending on the position of the tooth, including risk of damage to the inferior alveolar nerve, prolonged swelling and recovery, and the need for surgical (as opposed to simple) extraction.
Recovery times vary between patients and depend on the complexity of the extraction, patient health, and post-operative care. Most patients can return to normal activity within a few days, though full socket healing takes several weeks. This information is general in nature. Please discuss the full risks of extraction with Dr Tam at your appointment.

Wisdom Tooth Content

Wisdom Tooth Removal
Wisdom teeth (third molars) typically emerge between the ages of 17 and 25. Not all wisdom teeth require removal. Removal is generally recommended when a wisdom tooth is impacted (unable to fully emerge), causing repeated infection, decay of the adjacent tooth, crowding, or cyst formation.
Wisdom tooth removal may be performed under local anaesthetic alone or with sedation depending on the complexity of the case and patient preference. Surgical removal involves opening the gum tissue and may require sectioning of the tooth. Recovery from surgical wisdom tooth removal typically takes 3–7 days for initial healing, though full socket healing takes longer.
A clinical assessment including X-rays is required to determine whether removal is necessary and what type of procedure is appropriate for your situation.