I have two teeth that are infected. I went to see my dentist and he said that because these teeth have an abscess they need to be extracted and replaced. I hate the idea of extracting teeth unless it is absolutely necessary, but I am in a lot of pain. Do I have any other options?
Kelly
Dear Kelly,
I am sorry about your tooth infection. You definitely could have some options. The first thing I would do is get a second opinion. The typical solution for a tooth infection is to get a root canal treatment. I would first see if you can have that done first. This enables you to save your teeth. Some dentists are better than others at putting effort into saving teeth. When you have dentists who don’t care about saving teeth, they just go for the easiest solution.
If a root canal treatment is not possible and the teeth do need to be extracted, then I suggest you do it with a sedation dentist so it will be as anxiety-free/pain-free as possible for you. I would not put this off. If the infection is that bad, I would consider it an emergency appointment. You will also need to replace these teeth. That doesn’t have to be done right away. The infection is the priority. Once you are fully recovered from that it will be time to look into a replacement.
The top tooth replacement is a dental implant. I would look into that first. It will be the closest to having a natural tooth back.
Please get your second opinion as soon as possible.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.