Pulling Your Own Teeth

Even though it may sound very odd and downright compelling, a lot of people actually try to extract their own teeth.  Toothache pain can be very painful and very frustrating, making you try anything to get relief.  Depending on how bad the pain is, you’ll be more than willing to do just about anything you can to get the pain to stop.  Abscesses or really bad cavities are among the worst, as the pain never seems to let up - no matter what you do.

In the old days, teeth were extracted by pliers, as there were no dentists around.  During these times, people would get drunk on alcohol and then the teeth would be extracted.  There was no such thing as anaesthesia back then, so it was impossible to locally numb the pain.  These days though, local anaesthesia is the best way to numb a toothache before pulling the tooth.  If you attempt to pull a tooth yourself, you’ll feel the pain no matter what you do.

There are situations however, in which you can pull your own teeth.  Baby teeth for example, are acceptable to pull.  Before you yank it out though, you should check on the age of when the tooth in question should be removed.  If you wiggle the tooth around and it appears to be loose, then chances are it will come out without a problem.  On the other hand, if you pull the tooth and it turns out to be an abscess, you’ll end up with a real problem and your hands and you’ll need to visit a dentist as soon as you can.

Another situation in which it is acceptable to pull your own teeth is when you have a severe case of gum disease.  Gum disease can cause the socket and the bone to become extremely decayed, which will result in the destruction of the tooth.  If the gum disease is severe enough, the tooth will be extremely loose and will come out without a problem.  In some cases, the tooth can be almost unbearable to the touch.  If you have gum disease and notice a loose tooth, you should be careful when pulling it.  If you don’t do it properly or if you do it too soon, you could end up breaking the top of the tooth.  If this happens, you’ll need to go to the dentist to have the remaining portion of the tooth cut out.

Even though a tooth may feel loose when you touch it, doesn’t always mean that you can grab a pair of pliers and rip it out.  Teeth are very delicate.  If you try to rip a tooth out with pair of pliers and make a mistake, you should end up doing more harm than good.  Putting pliers in your mouth can also lead to an infection, which would send you to the dentist.  Abscesses on the other hand, should never be dealt with on your own - you’ll need to go to a dentist to have him properly extract the tooth and give you some antibiotics to stop the infection.

To be on the safe side and avoid any potential problems that could easily arise, you should always go to the dentist if you have a toothache.  No matter how bad the pain may be, you should never attempt to pull the tooth yourself. Your dentist can numb the area before he pulls the tooth, so you’ll feel no pain at all.  He will also prescribe you some pain medicine and antibiotics as well, to help treat any infection you may have.  If you attempt to pull the tooth yourself, you’ll only cause more problems in the end - and end up going to a dentist anyway.

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