Back molar--#18--is infected & nerve exposed. Also was previously damaged. Extraction? Or root canal & crown (tooth, implant)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So a week later I went to see my "regular" dentist. This guy is really good & I trust his advice. He said there wasn't enough tooth left to successfully make a crown; & that I should have it extracted. By then I'd spent several days on the antibiotics & the tooth was feeling much better. I asked him: "what if I do nothing"? He said "the infection will come back, & will come back with a vengeance".
I have an app't. next Friday with an oral surgeon. This exam is $150, & the extraction $439. But the way the tooth is feeling today, I'm wondering if I could put it off for awhile?? Also there are 2 teeth on the xray I sent them, & the app't. woman got all confused & kept asking me if BOTH teeth needed extraction??! (THEY DON'T)
Would anyone else here put off the extraction for awhile--until the tooth starts hurting again? Or, does an infected tooth ever "get better" after a round of antibiotics?
Thanks.......
This is just my experience...not making any recommendations....but...I have a back molar that got infected or something during the pandemic and the crown that was on it fell apart and came off. During that time, the tooth hurt like all get out! However, over the course of a few weeks, the pain stopped...similar to what is happening with yours. It seems to get cranky every once in a while, but for the most part is fine. I do still intend to get it dealt with at some time, hopefully soonish, as I just got dental insurance....so, i guess if you feel like you want to wait a bit, that might be ok, but eventually it will have to be dealt with...not sure this has been a lot of help...anyway, it's been two years now that I've lived with it without too much trouble. I also use a periodontal rinse every night, that I am hoping keeps it from getting infected/acting up, so that might be something you could use until you make a decision on it.
If I were middle aged or younger, I would choose to keep as much of the tooth as possible and crown it, because without it, the jaw in that area begins to deteriorate. However, at your age, that may not make a difference, since that deterioration takes time.
If you don't care if you keep full jaw bone (or whatever you call the bone in that area), just extract it. I had very back molar or the top extracted many years ago (I was out of town, when it severely cracked so had to go to dentist in the area, and that's what he did). I wish it had been crowned, because I was young and I can tell the bone in that area is less than the bone for the other side. I'm older now, so I don't think I'd care much, now.
That's what I'm worried about now: bone loss in the jaw after extraction. From what I've been reading, it sounds fairly awful. And, yeah, I'm 71, but I don't want more dental problems. The piece I posted below advises bone grafting, then an implant.
I also have a slightly crooked jaw, and on the left side (where the problem back tooth is), the teeth fit closer together than the right. So maybe that back lower molar is more important than usual? I guess I could pay the $150 or a "consult" with the oral surgeon & get their opinion.
I've also thought: what about just getting a root canal? And not a crown (since there's not enough tooth left)? The tooth has been in it's broken state for 30 years.
So a week later I went to see my "regular" dentist. This guy is really good & I trust his advice. He said there wasn't enough tooth left to successfully make a crown; & that I should have it extracted. By then I'd spent several days on the antibiotics & the tooth was feeling much better. I asked him: "what if I do nothing"? He said "the infection will come back, & will come back with a vengeance".
I have an app't. next Friday with an oral surgeon. This exam is $150, & the extraction $439. But the way the tooth is feeling today, I'm wondering if I could put it off for awhile?? Also there are 2 teeth on the xray I sent them, & the app't. woman got all confused & kept asking me if BOTH teeth needed extraction??! (THEY DON'T)
Would anyone else here put off the extraction for awhile--until the tooth starts hurting again? Or, does an infected tooth ever "get better" after a round of antibiotics?
Thanks.......
IMO, if you have made the decision to have that tooth extracted, it's best not to wait too long to have it done. Infected teeth ( or gum infections under the infected tooth) will get better after a round of antibiotics, and feel better. But absolutely yes, the infection will return repeatedly ( and your dentist is right about " with a vengeance,", as I can attest to from sad experience ). That's because a tooth that's broken, or cracked has an open transit for the bacteria normally present in the oral mucus membranes to spread into the gum tissue, causing gum infections over and over again till those transits are closed.
Extracting the tooth will allow the area to heal, gum tissue to grow over the area, cutting off the access of the oral bacteria to the gum tissue. Hopefully if you went the root canal and crown route this would also leave the tooth and gum intact.
Those infections can be dangerous if the bacteria spreads via the bloodstream to other parts of the body- for example, in some people with cardiac valve abnormalities, the bacteria may set up infections on those valves, or endocarditis.
Also, if you present yourself to a dentist for an extraction when you have a raging infection and you can't take the pain anymore, you'll have to go through another round of antibiotic therapy and get rid of that infection before the dentist will do the extraction. No reputable dentist would do an extraction of an infected tooth, as the trauma and bleeding from the extraction would be more likely to spread the bacteria through the bloodstream.
Other than my wisdom teeth ( which only came in halfway and repeatedly became infected before I relented and had them out), I have had one extraction- if I read the tooth chart right , was my #32 molar. This was after 5 yrs of messing around with it following an abscess under the tooth in the gum, root canal, crown, which was ok till I broke the root canal which gave it access the gum, more infections, deep cleanings and antibiotics to try and save the thing. Finally had it out.
Extractions aren't fun, I just had novocaine ( or whatever they use as a local) but I might suggest having it done with that, and maybe nitrous oxide- you'd be in lala land for your extraction.
Personally, I have never had success with a root canaled tooth, they eventually failed and I had to extract and pay for an implant. Would have saved a bundle if I had just got the implant to begin with. Thats just my opinion, others have had good experience with root canals.
So the deed is done--I got the tooth pulled 2 days ago. Compared to the horrors I was expecting, it was a "piece of cake" (knock wood, it's just starting to heal). They charged me $530 for the 2 minute exam, & the the extraction (w/a "Senior Discount"). And even forced me to pay in advance! The actual extraction took 5 or 10 minutes; I was a bit shocked that it didn't even hurt (except for the novocaine needle jabs; not fun but tolerable). I am so glad to have that tooth out of there.
On the downside, they gave me a prescription for Tramadol, but for a dosage that my ins. doesn't cover, so $28.75 for 10 pills. I didn't pick it up; I'm going to see if the Dr. will re-write the script. Also a medicinal oral rinse; free with my ins.
Also, if you're open to this, and I know a lot of people may freak out at the idea, but a small bite of a good THC Gummie can help greatly for one to kind of "mellow out" during the procedure.
OP, how have you been as far as the missing tooth is concerned? Did you have implant? Thanks for the thread as some day I may be in the same situation (lost a molar long long ago and another is very loose).
If you can save what's left of the tooth, get a root canal, treat the infection and get a crown. I went that route with a broken tooth decades ago and that tooth is still healthy.
So a week later I went to see my "regular" dentist. This guy is really good & I trust his advice. He said there wasn't enough tooth left to successfully make a crown; & that I should have it extracted. By then I'd spent several days on the antibiotics & the tooth was feeling much better. I asked him: "what if I do nothing"? He said "the infection will come back, & will come back with a vengeance".
I have an app't. next Friday with an oral surgeon. This exam is $150, & the extraction $439. But the way the tooth is feeling today, I'm wondering if I could put it off for awhile?? Also there are 2 teeth on the xray I sent them, & the app't. woman got all confused & kept asking me if BOTH teeth needed extraction??! (THEY DON'T)
Would anyone else here put off the extraction for awhile--until the tooth starts hurting again? Or, does an infected tooth ever "get better" after a round of antibiotics?
Thanks.......
They won't pull the tooth out while it's infected, because doing so can cause the infection to spread into the bloodstream. If you wait until it hurts, you'll have to go through the whole process all over again. Dentist, diagnosis, treatment for the infection - meanwhile the tooth itself and bone under it are getting worse and worse and worse, and you keep pumping yourself with antibiotics, and experiencing pain.
Whoever sets the appointments should be verifying with the doctor which tooth/teeth you need pulled, not you. Then on the day of the procedure the doctor and nursing staff need to verify with you which tooth/teeth they agreed to pull. That isn't because they don't know. They know. They need to make sure YOU know, and that everyone is agreed on the same one.
Reason for that - imagine going in for a hip replacement and SOMEONE says "it's the right hip" and you end up getting the wrong hip replaced. So it's to make sure no one is making a mistake - since mistakes do happen. This is a fail-safe measure.
They won't pull the tooth out while it's infected, because doing so can cause the infection to spread into the bloodstream. If you wait until it hurts, you'll have to go through the whole process all over again. Dentist, diagnosis, treatment for the infection - meanwhile the tooth itself and bone under it are getting worse and worse and worse, and you keep pumping yourself with antibiotics, and experiencing pain.
Whoever sets the appointments should be verifying with the doctor which tooth/teeth you need pulled, not you. Then on the day of the procedure the doctor and nursing staff need to verify with you which tooth/teeth they agreed to pull. That isn't because they don't know. They know. They need to make sure YOU know, and that everyone is agreed on the same one.
Reason for that - imagine going in for a hip replacement and SOMEONE says "it's the right hip" and you end up getting the wrong hip replaced. So it's to make sure no one is making a mistake - since mistakes do happen. This is a fail-safe measure.
Just so you know...the OP went ahead and had the tooth pulled back in April.
My upper 1st molar got crowned 2 1/2 years ago. It never felt right. It turns out that the tooth had a crack in it and my dentist at the time said 4 months later perhaps I should see an endodondist to determine wether or not a root canal could be done. I couldn't see the endondist he recommended because they weren't taking patients due to Covid. The tooth settled for a while but I now the feeling is back and I am dealing with some annoying nasal drip. I went to the ENT and had a sinus scan. The scan report suggested there may be a dental issue with my upper first molar. I went to my new dentist and he referred me to an endondist. Both dismissed the tooth as the likely cause of my annoying sinus inflammation near this tooth and nasal drip. The endodontist recommended a root canal as part of a two part process. Since there is a mild infection he said he would open the tooth treat the infection and determine if he could do a root canal when he is able to see under the crown. I asked him whether I should have it extracted and an implant instead and he said he does root canals for a living and doesn't provide advice on extractions or implants. I have already spent $1800 on this crown. A root canal would be another $1500 or so. An implant is about $5000. No one will tell me to go for an extraction but it seems that the root canal will not address the problem of the bacteria getting in because the crown is likely not preventing the bacteria from entering through the cracked tooth. I have the procedure scheduled for February with the endodontist but am now wondering whether or not just to schedule an extraction instead? The tooth doesn't hurt and I have been chasing these elusive sinus issues for nearly 3 years (problem started before my tooth got infected and a crown put on it 2 1/2 years ago) The nasal drip is getting worse and I have been to numerous doctors including my GI who put me on reflux meds, an ENT, and an allergist but no one can identify the cause despite meds, x-rays, CT scans, and a full series of allergy tests. I've used nasal sprays, humidifiers, allergy meds, reflux meds, etc., with no relief. Anyone have sinus issues related to their infected tooth? I'm at wits end.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
). That's because a tooth that's broken, or cracked has an open transit for the bacteria normally present in the oral mucus membranes to spread into the gum tissue, causing gum infections over and over again till those transits are closed. 
