Extraction Techniques

Dental extractions are a very common veterinary procedure. As common as they are, they are not a simple undertaking and should be approached with the same depth of preparation as any other surgical procedure. Regardless of size of the tooth, all extractions start with the 9 steps used for simple single-root extractions. These are: obtain consent, expose a dental radiograph, obtain proper lighting and visualization, administer proper pain management, cut the gingival attachment, elevate carefully, remove the tooth, perform alveoplasty, and close. Multi-root teeth require sectioning into single-rooted pieces, which are then treated as single-root extractions. Finally, some extractions (especially canine and carnassial teeth) are better performed after the creation of gingival flaps and removal of bone to ease the extraction process.

Keywords: extraction, surgical extraction, retained roots, elevation, gingival attachment, periodontal ligament