I had two root canals done on my left jaw. In addition to that, I have an impacted wisdom tooth, which is infected. The teeth that had the root canal still bother me. I want my oral surgeon to take out all the teeth at once but he is refusing, so I haven’t gone back to do the wisdom tooth. I feel like I should be the one to decide how many teeth are removed. Can you give me anything I can say to him to change his mind?
Marilyn
Dear Marilyn,
I am worried you are playing with fire here. I haven’t examined you or seen any x-rays. Anything I say will be a guess. Here is what I can infer from what you’re saying. You want three teeth removed but your oral surgeon only wants to take out the one infected wisdom tooth. Truthfully, your oral surgeon would make three times the money extracting all the teeth you are asking him to. The fact that he is saying no means that he doesn’t think those teeth need to be extracted.
You basically have a couple of safe options here. The first is to go ahead and get the infected wisdom tooth removed, following your dentist’s advice and leave the other teeth. The second is to go to a different dentist will less integrity who will remove healthy teeth just for the fees it generates.
The worst thing you can do is leave the wisdom tooth there trying to hold your dentist hostage to your desire. Infected teeth are considered dental emergencies for a very good reason. Without the proper treatment, this will spread. Your jaw is close to your heart, lungs, and brain. You don’t want the infection spreading there.
The benefit of just removing the wisdom tooth is you get to keep some natural teeth, which is always important. Also, while an extracted wisdom tooth doesn’t need to be replaced, the molars will. That adds another expense. The best tooth replacement is a dental implant, which means surgery.
I know you said the root-canaled teeth are still bothering you. Here is my suggestion. It is likely those teeth are bothering you because of the infected tooth. Once that is extracted, you should get some relief. Do that. Keep yourself safe. Then, if the teeth are still bothering you, go ahead and get them extracted. I’d just have for you to lose healthy teeth unnecessarily.
This blog is brought to you by Lexington, KY Dentists Dr. John Weaver.
