“How does a dentist remove a tooth broken at the gum line?”

Depends on what tooth it is and how long it has been broken off. Usually it's not much more difficult than any other tooth.

That would depend on the clinicians training and skill, secondly on the tooth and supporting bone and gingiva. For me I attempt to remove the tooth as atraumatically as possible. Separate the gingiva around the neck of the tooth. Use a luxator(special instrument that slips between root and bone severing coronal periodontal ligament(PDL-holds tooth in bone)) and begin gently loosening tooth. Special designed forceps are then used to try remove tooth with alternating rotations to further sever the PDL. If unsuccessful the next step is to section multi rooted teeth ,then as atraumatically as possible remove bone around the roots for final removal.

There are a variety of ways depending on the situation. Often the dentist uses special beaked forceps to reached tightly around the root. Other times the dentist may take away a trough of bone around the root so that it can be better exposed and held by the forceps.

With sterile instruments and principles of mechanics. The fibrous ligaments between the root and surrounding bone are severed and the tooth becomes loose and is grabbed and removed.

Dear Reader,

There are several ways to do this depending upon the training, experience and skill of the dentist. I have performed this close to 1,000 times. Just make sure your dentist feels he or she is confident and comfortable performing the procedure.  
Hope this helps.

Steven Chamish, DDS

Special instruments are used to separate the ligaments from the tooth in the socket, loosen and remove the tooth. A good dentist will take care to not remove any bone around the tooth unless absolutely necessary. -Dr. Bishop