To surgically remove a tooth, the affected area will have to be numbed. A local anesthetic is normally used for one tooth, but if multiple teeth are being removed at once, a general anesthetic may need to be administered to keep you sedated throughout the surgery. The dentist will make an incision into the gum tissue to access the tooth. It will be gripped and loosened by being pulled back and forth. Once it has been sufficiently loosened, it can be removed from the gums. In some cases, the tooth is too firmly lodged in place to be removed this way. It will then be necessary to break the tooth into smaller pieces before it can be removed. Sutures may be placed over the site to close it and help it heal. When this is the case, soluble sutures are usually chosen, as they dissolve over time.