​Sometimes a toothache is a temporary thing. Perhaps something got stuck between teeth causing gum irritation. Maybe you had a bad night and were clenching or grinding. Maybe a cavity is beginning to form. And sometimes the toothache pain is unbearable and just won’t go away. This is not a time to ignore the pain. An infected or damaged tooth that causes this type of prolonged pain will most likely require treatment by a dentist and could require an extraction. Delaying treatment can cause much greater problems, including overall infection that can spread to gums and other teeth or even cause an infection in your whole body. There are some serious complications that can be caused by untreated tooth infection.

So how do you know if your tooth needs to be extracted? Look for these symptoms:

• Continuous, acute tooth pain
• Tooth pain that gets worse when chewing or biting down
• Jaw pain or stiffness
• Pain in a tooth that has had a previous root canal or filling
• Signs of infection (redness, swelling, spreading to nearby area)
• Recent trauma to the tooth
• Damage to the tooth
• Fever accompanied by any of the above symptoms

Note: Wisdom teeth often need to be removed due to over-crowding, teeth that are coming in crooked either above or below the gum surface. Wisdom teeth can affect other teeth and can sometimes become impacted.

At Just Pull It, our skilled dentists will evaluate your tooth and make a recommendation for the best course of action. Some teeth can be saved and we will certainly suggest saving the tooth where possible. While planning a replacement at the same time of the extraction is great, many of our patients don’t have the time or the budget to make the decision right away. It’s best to get a professional opinion as soon as possible, the risks of delay can be serious That’s why our mission is to provide low cost, safe, single visit extractions for our patients who need them. 

You’ve heard the stories. First of all, let’s be clear, dry socket (alveolar osteitis) happens in approximately 2-4% of extractions. It is something most patients worry about, but it’s actually rare and there are things you can do to minimize the risk, which we will discuss in this article. But first, let’s explain this dreaded condition.

After a tooth extraction, a blood clot forms on top of the extraction site. The clot serves to cover the hole and protect the underlying bone and nerve tissue. On rare occasion, this blook clot may fail to form, or become dissolved or dislodged. When that happens the exposure can cause pain, sometimes intense pain. Dry socket is more common after wisdom tooth extraction. When it happens, we encourage our patients to call us right away. In some cases, the patient can take measures at home and other times, we need to see the patient back in the office.
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So, the good news is that patients can minimize the risk of dry socket by following some simple after-care steps at home.

• Avoid straws or sucking of any kind. Stay away from soups and crunchy foods. Eat soft foods for several days until the extraction site begins to close and pain subsides.
• Do not smoke anything. The sucking action can dislodge the clot and the nicotine and other toxins can damage the site and thin the blood.
• Ask the dentist about medicines you may be taking to avoid potential drug interactions.
• Proper oral hygiene after the extraction is important. Your dental technician will instruct you on how to care for your teeth after you get home.

With care after the extraction, most patients heal quickly without complications of dry socket. We certainly try to do everything to ensure a speedy recovery.
When suffering from acute toothache pain, patients are relieved to find Just Pull It. Our goal is to provide safe, fast, and affordable extractions for those who need it. That is the only thing we do and the focus of our practice. 

There is no doubt that many families these days are experiencing financial challenges. Many have lost jobs which means loss of insurance in many cases. So, when a toothache strikes, it is tempting to delay treatment.

Tooth infection does not wait for the perfect time, it can strike when we can least afford it – financially or otherwise. At Just Pull It, we understand the financial challenge the cost of a tooth extraction. The need in the community for low cost, fast, and affordable extractions was the reason our clinic was founded in 2018.

Delaying treatment can cause other dental and health problems: And let’s face it, if you are struggling with a problem tooth, you are likely experiencing acute pain, inability to focus, and just feeling bad overall. 

The average cost of an extraction can range between $400 – 850, plus the cost of the x-ray and anesthetic. Even with insurance most patients pay more than $200 per tooth, depending on their individual plan. The cost can increase significantly if there is infection that has spread to other teeth or the underlying bone and tissues.

The good news is relief is available at Just Pull It for only $150* per tooth. Our extractions include the exam, x-ray, anesthetic, extraction, and follow up instructions. We don’t offer other forms of dental treatment. Our goal is to help patients get rid of the bad tooth and the associated pain and get back to life and work as quickly as possible. We are happy to refer our patients to general or specialty dental partners for further treatment and tooth replacement, which can be planned when schedule and budget allow.  
*Wisdom teeth extractions are also available for slightly higher cost.

Last month we launched our first ever photo contest and we are proud to announce our first ever winner! Coy Batson posted the winning photo and will receive a $100 gift card from Walmart. We appreciate all our patients who received t-shirts when they came to our office for treatment. We gave away over 200 shirts! We had fun and while toothaches are no fun at all, we try to make the experience here as comfortable as possible when our patients choose to have their extractions done with us. 

Here are a few of the photos we found on Facebook with our Hashtag!  #justpullit

Watch for our next T-shirt Selfie Contest soon! 

​A dentist's goal is to provide patients with the best possible dental and periodontal health. Most of the time that means leaving the teeth in place and saving the tooth is a high priority. However, there are times that the tooth is not able to be saved and an extraction is the best course of treatment.

So how do you know when a tooth needs to be pulled? Here are some signs that you may have a tooth that needs to be pulled:

• Chronic or acute tooth pain
• Swollen gums in a specific area around a tooth
• Pain in the jaw or stiffens when opening and closing mouth
• Increased pain while chewing or biting
• Gum disease
• Broken or damage to the tooth that can be seen or felt

Most of the time toothache is the number one indication of tooth infection, and tooth infection untreated leads to the need for extraction or other immediate care. Injury to the tooth is another leading cause of tooth extraction. Sometimes the tooth can be saved with extensive dental work – root canal with a prosthetic tooth or bridge, drilling and reconstruction. If the tooth cannot be saved, the tooth can be replaced with dental implant, partial bridge or denture.
When you have an acute toothache caused by an injured or infected tooth, the immediate need is to get rid of the pain. Many patients need time to prepare for the financial cost of the reconstruction (which can be thousands of dollars) and prefer to do the extraction now and schedule a visit with a general dentist or periodontist later.

At Just Pull It, we have a singular mission to provide safe, fast, single visit, and low-cost tooth extractions for our patients who need it. We are aware of the need in the community. We do not provide general dentistry or other reconstructive services. We know that tooth infection left untreated causes great pain, loss of work, time with family, and added stress. No one plans for debilitating tooth pain so relief is our immediate focus. Reconstructive treatment can be scheduled at a convenient time afterward.

​Here are some ways to calm the pain until you arrive for your appointment:

• Ice, Ice Baby! Try a small cube wrapped with a cloth and rest on top of the tooth. You can also use an ice pack or a bag of frozen veggies on the jaw outside of the painful tooth area. And believe it or not if you wrap an ice cube and apply it, with pressure, to the fleshy area between your thumb and forefinger, it can reduce the pain.
• Clove oil is a good way to naturally numb the tooth. Be careful, a little goes a long way. Put a couple of drops on a cotton ball and apply to the tooth. Be careful not to get directly on the gum tissue.
• Swish some salt water (one teaspoon of salt in one cup of water) to cleanse the affected tooth and surrounding tissue. This will also reduce swelling which could be causing some of the pain.
• Tea might help. Peppermint tea has a slight numbing effect and the tannins in black tea will help reduce swelling. You can also use a wet tea bag lightly resting on the tooth area.
• You can use a pain reliever like Ibuprofen or acetaminophen as directed to help manage the pain.

These are all temporary pain relievers. The pain from an infected or impacted tooth will not go away without dental intervention. We hope using one or more of these methods will help alleviate your pain until you can come in for an appointment with our Dentist. The sooner you call, the sooner you won’t need these temporary remedies! 

For at least 48 to 72 hours!

After a tooth extraction it is important to follow a few simple guidelines to ensure the extraction site will heal quickly and without complication. One of the most important requirements is to refrain from smoking for at least 48 to 72 hours. Smoking too soon after an extraction can cause serious complications.

• Nicotine in cigarettes, vapes, or nicotine gum constricts blood vessels and reduces blood flow and oxygen supply which can slow the healing process.
• The reduced oxygen supply can also interfere with the body’s immune system and increase the risk of infection.
• The sucking action of smoking increases the chance of dislodging the blood clot at the extraction site and increases the risk of “dry socket,” a very painful inflammation.
• Smoking increases the risk of complications after the extraction.

We know it isn’t easy to stop smoking, even for a few days. If you are coming in for a tooth extraction, prepare for discontinuing smoking before you come in. Many patients have been successful using a nicotine patch to help ease the cravings after the procedure. Plan, in advance, to avoid situations that are smoking triggers. If you normally smoke with your coffee in the morning, switch to tea or a cold drink. Avoid hanging out with your friends who smoke or the places where you normally smoke. Stay busy but don’t over-do it and in a few days, you can resume normal activities, including smoking or vaping.
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At Just Pull It, we focus on one thing and that is extracting painful infected teeth for an affordable cost, in a single visit. Getting our patients back to their normal life as quickly as possible is our goal. If you need help with a painful tooth, give us a call!

​After your tooth extraction, your dental team will go over your post procedure care instructions. It is very important to follow these instructions closely so the extraction site will heal quickly, and you can get back to your life. Here are some tips to help you with the healing process

• For the first 20 minutes, the dental technician will have you apply sterile gauze with pressure to help stop bleeding.

Your tooth is aching. It has been more than a couple of days. You are hoping the pain will go away. You are trying to wait to pull the tooth until you have the finances to replace it with cosmetic dentistry, but the pain is getting worse. No one wants to have a tooth pulled....

But here is the reality. Before tooth decay will cause pain, the decay has to penetrate the enamel, then the dentin and make it's way to the part of the tooth that contains the nerves. (See illustration)

Once it has become this serious, the decay and infection can affect nearby teeth and surrounding tissue or could lead to infection in other parts of your body such as your sinus cavity or in severe cases, your blood stream or heart. 

We aren't trying to scare you, but delaying the extraction can lead to additional, and avoidable issues. At Just Pull It, we focus on taking care of the tooth pain with a single visit extraction. We are affordable, safe and accessible. You may want to have cosmetic work done after the extraction and we can certainly refer you to an appropriate dental professional to help you with that. Just don't delay taking care of an infected tooth first. Waiting can set you up for even bigger and more expensive problems.