Dentists extract teeth for many reasons, but by far, the most common is that the patient is in pain and wants to relieve the pain as quickly, permanently and as inexpensively as possible. This does not mean that there are not other ways of relieving the pain. But the other methods are likely to be more expensive or inconvenient. Other reasons are :

1) The patient may decide to get his tooth removed because the other alternatives are too expensive.

2) The dentist may decide that the tooth is not repairable, or may be impractical to repair under the circumstances. This includes teeth that have lost too much bone due to periodontal disease and are too mobile.

3) During orthodontic treatment teeth may have to be removed when there is crowding. This is done at the Orthodontists request. Extractions give them more room to move teeth and correct the crowding.

Removal of the tooth may be a matter of health. This is the case in the decision to remove impacted wisdom teeth, teeth associated with cysts or tumors, or teeth that would otherwise compromise the patient's oral health if left in place.