Our first instinct is to save the tooth. A filling, a root canal, or a crown will often do it, and nothing performs as well as your own tooth. But a tooth that is fractured below the gum, decayed beyond restoring, or holding an infection that keeps returning is doing you more harm than good.

Dr. Wes Prepchuk has performed thousands of extractions over the past ten years and handles most cases here, including surgical extractions. Every case is assessed on X-ray, and on CBCT imaging where root position or nerve proximity calls for it.

Extraction is the last option, not the first. We recommend it when:

• Decay has destroyed too much of the tooth to restore it, even with a crown
• The tooth is fractured below the gumline
• Infection has not resolved, or has returned after root canal treatment
• Advanced periodontal disease has destroyed the bone holding the tooth in place
• A wisdom tooth is impacted and causing crowding, infection, or damage to the tooth beside it
• Trauma has broken the tooth beyond repair
• Teeth need removing to make room for orthodontic treatment or a denture

If your case is not one of these, we will tell you what would save the tooth instead and what it costs, so you can make the comparison properly.

We talk about this before the tooth comes out, not after. Planning the replacement in advance changes what happens on the day.

If an implant is likely, a bone graft placed into the socket at the time of extraction preserves the ridge and often avoids a separate grafting procedure later. Bone starts resorbing as soon as a tooth is gone, and the first six months lose the most. Deciding afterwards frequently means paying for grafting you could have avoided.

Your options are an implant, a bridge, a partial denture, or leaving the gap. Leaving it is a legitimate choice for some back teeth and a poor one for most others, because neighbouring teeth drift and the opposing tooth over-erupts. Dr. Prepchuk places Straumann implants and provides bridges and dentures, so the comparison is made on your case rather than on what the clinic offers.

Imaging and planning

An X-ray shows the shape and position of the roots. Where the roots sit close to a nerve or a sinus, or where the tooth is impacted, we take a CBCT scan here at the clinic so the anatomy is understood in three dimensions before we start.

Freezing and sedation

Local anaesthetic numbs the area completely. You will feel firm pressure and movement, which is normal and not the same as pain, but you should not feel sharpness. Tell us if you do and we will add more freezing.

Nitrous oxide and oral sedation are available if anxiety or the length of the appointment makes that easier. Ask when you book rather than on the day, because oral sedation needs planning and someone to drive you home.

The extraction

A simple extraction loosens the tooth and lifts it out. A surgical extraction, used for impacted teeth or teeth broken at the gumline, involves lifting a small flap of gum, sometimes removing a little bone, and often sectioning the tooth into pieces so it comes out through a smaller opening. Sectioning sounds worse than it is; it usually means less trauma, not more.

Stitches

Not every extraction needs them. Surgical cases usually do. Most stitches we place dissolve on their own within one to two weeks. If yours do not, we will book a short appointment to remove them.

A simple extraction and a surgical extraction are priced differently, and sedation is charged separately. We will tell you which category your case falls into after the X-ray, before anything is booked.

Springbank Hill Dental follows the Alberta Dental Association Fee Guide, so you can compare our fee against the published provincial rate. Extractions are generally well covered by insurance, and we bill your insurer directly. If a replacement is part of the plan, we will price the whole sequence up front rather than one stage at a time.

Book an assessment at Springbank Hill Dental by calling (403) 454-4757. We are at 133-7460 Springbank Blvd SW, open from 7:00 am Wednesday through Saturday and until 8:30 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. New patients are welcome, no referral is needed, and parking is free.