Several years ago I had an injury to my tooth. As the years passed, the tooth has turned an ugly brown. My dentist said that it needs to be replaced by a dental implant because there is no root left in the tooth. This is quite expensive and I have several other teeth that need fillings. I’m not sure I can afford to spend all of my money on one tooth. That being said, I am tired of being the girl with the ugly brown tooth.
Emily
Dear Emily,
There are a couple of things going on here that make me think that this is not the best dentist for you. First, if your dentist had treated the tooth with a root canal treatment after your traumatic injury there is a possibility that the tooth could have been saved. Without treatment, you risk something called root resorption. It could have happened anyway, but a root canal treatment would have lessened the risk.
A second issue is that it appears your dentist is not giving you all of your options. Dentists are ethically obligated to give you all of your treatment options. When you are missing a tooth, you have several replacement options.
The best option is the dental implant that your dentist suggested. However, as you noted, it is the most expensive option as well. If you told your dentist that it was too expensive for you and he still did not give you other options that tells me a lot about his lack of character.
The next best option is a dental bridge. This is when a dentist suspends a false tooth between two dental crowns. This is less appealing if the adjacent teeth are perfectly healthy, because you don’t necessarily want to grind down healthy tooth structure.
You mentioned you had other teeth that needed work. If one or more of them is an adjacent tooth than this option might actually make more sense for you.
A third option is a removable partial denture. This has a false tooth that uses clips to attach it to your teeth in order to keep it in place. Finally, there is a dental flipper. This is the least expensive option. However, it is meant to be temporary. It’s most useful when you are planning on saving up for a better option.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.