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About a year ago, I had a root canal on tooth #12. The majority of the crown broke off after eating leaving very little left, though nothing is exposed. My dentist is convinced that pretty much the only thing I can do would be to get an implant. He claims that it's only a matter of time before it becomes infected even though nothing is exposed. He says that eventually bacteria will burrow down and infect the area. Hmmmm....? I went to several implant specialist and the cost is shocking! Thousands of dollars. A minimum of $5000. I've been living with the broken tooth for almost a year now and have had ZERO ill effects. No pain, sesnativity, no nothing! Another dentist I saw suggested that what remains could be filled in like a cavity with metal or porcelain to ensure no bacteria can "burrow," as my normal dentists suggests can and will happen. I asked him about this and he outright refuses to do this. He says there's not enough left to work with. I'm only asking about covering the area with some sort of material to ensure it cannot get infected as he suggests it will. But he refuses to even consider it. Another dentist might do it but in case that's really not an option, even though I'd love to get another opinion about this, what if I just get the tooth extracted? I've had teeth pulled when I was younger and nothing bad came to pass. Won't the gum naturally heal and close? I understand there may be some movement from a surrounding tooth or two but no such thing has happened yet or it's been so minor I can't even tell. I'm just so weirded out by the fact that my dentist is 100% convinced that unless I get an implant, even though he does do them himself, something nasty will happen, such as an infection or something. I probably need to get another opinion but I'm just curious to hear if anyone here has gone through anything similar. If I knew that nothing bad was going to happen, I'd leave it alone, as it now, forever. Thank you very much.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I doubt that too many people on this forum know more than the dentists. I have had 3 implants and they only ran about $4,000. I paid about half, because I have dental insurance. They will have a waiting period of one year for implants but it's only about $50/month, and well worth it if your employer doesn't provide it (I pay $5/Pay Check toward mine). I'm no dentist, but from what my oral surgeon said, if that tooth does get infected and rotted it can cause permanent damage to the jaw, and won't take the bone graft that is required for the implant. I would get it removed, get dental insurance, then have the implant done. During that year save up for what the insurance doesn't pay and shop around for a better price.
If you lose a tooth, the tooth below it ( that it would touch when you chew) can get wobbly and loose. I think the teeth right next to the pulled tooth also get wobbly. Could you go to another dentist and get the tooth capped, or is it too far gone?
I have Medical for my insurance and I have no idea if it would cover any of an implant cost. I may need a sinus lift, too. My sinus cavity dips pretty low and a bone graft would most likely be necessary, as well. I believe the tooth is too far gone to be capped, which is why I thought it could just get "filled in" to prevent any infection. But again, this guy told me today he won't do it. He thought it'd be a waste of time. To me, at least filling it in, or covering it, with the metal filling material would not only prevent infection but also be the most economical option. I'll probably try and get another opinion. I'm just surprised that this particular dentist would refuse do to it.
I have Medical for my insurance and I have no idea if it would cover any of an implant cost. I may need a sinus lift, too. My sinus cavity dips pretty low and a bone graft would most likely be necessary, as well. I believe the tooth is too far gone to be capped, which is why I thought it could just get "filled in" to prevent any infection. But again, this guy told me today he won't do it. He thought it'd be a waste of time. To me, at least filling it in, or covering it, with the metal filling material would not only prevent infection but also be the most economical option. I'll probably try and get another opinion. I'm just surprised that this particular dentist would refuse do to it.
If there was a crown on the tooth, then the tooth was ground down to a stump in order to fit the crown. You don't mention why the tooth was crowned in the first place, so there's that, too.
You can't build up a stump. You can fill in a whole tooth, you might even be able to build up a little edge of a corner of a tooth that had a piece crack off. But no, you can't "fill in" a ground-down stump that exists only to hold a crown on it.
Your options would be:
1. get a new crown
2. get the tooth pulled and leave it there
3. get the tooth pulled and replace it with an implant
4. do nothing and good luck on it lasting more than a month without something to cover it, because stumps have -no- enamel and have nothing protecting them from anything else, unless they are covered completely.
If you don't have a dental plan, you'll need to just save up for whatever procedure you choose. You could look into CareCredit too, it's a payment plan that lets you repay a loan within a short period of time (I believe a year) and then after that it turns into a high-interest credit card (something like 29% compounded daily).
$5000 is a lot of money for some people. Personally i'd have what ever is left of the tooth extracted and be happy that that tooth will never be a problem again..Treat yourself to a cruise with the money saved..
The thing is, if that tooth has had a root canal and a crown already, it's a very fragile structure and if you were to get another dentist to do another crown, it will only be a matter of time until that crown comes off because there's not enough tooth to properly secure it. That is what happened to me. Another thing that can happen is the structure of the tooth can fracture, which also means extracting it.
However, that said, I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned to you the possibility of a bridge. To do a bridge, the dentist grinds down the two adjacent teeth, for you that's 11 and 13. Then crowns are prepared for those two teeth with a 'fake' tooth in between to take up the space where tooth 12 was. That eliminates the issue of shifting teeth. The only thing is that a bridge can cost almost as much as an implant, plus you still have the expense of the extraction, but that's not that much. Still, it would be less money and less invasive.
But whatever you do, at least get the tooth extracted. I have the same thing going on with a crown that broke but is still somewhat attached and I left it that way for longer than you have had your broken crown. The result is that I do have an infection under the tooth that I can't see or feel. What is the treatment for the infection? Extracting the tooth. If you don't do at least that, you run the risk of the infection spreading to your surrounding bone and then you'll have real problems.
A bridge on a back "bite" area is falling out of favor. It used to be the common fix, until implant dentistry was improved. But for almost the same price, you can get a single implant, not touch the adjacent teeth, have something solid in that spot instead of a facade covering a hole, and not ever have to worry about a space + 2 MORE teeth being in trouble if the bridge comes loose/breaks.
I recently had #31 molar pulled, three weeks ago, due to fracture.
There was some after pull pain on the other side, upper and lower. Pain was intense at times. I don't take over the counter pain meds or prescribed. I did happen to find a child's teething product from Boiron homeopathic: Camilia. Walgreen's.
I bought two boxes and began doubling amounts every two hours. Continuing as early as I could the next day.
I am having no pain or swelling at all.
Thought one of the upper teeth felt loose and it has corrected itself.
I cannot help you with your question of a crown, for I have none. Nor a root canal ever.
This is my very first tooth pull since wisdom teeth.
I just wanted to share this product I used for pain.
It was very painful. I almost called dentist for pain meds.
Hope everything gets better!
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