Extraction or a filling... no choice!

sudzs

A friend lost a filling and one side of his tooth a few weeks ago. He put off going to a dentist until he developed an abcess. (what a familiar story!)

She had a look and recommended either a crown or pull the tooth out. This was without an x-ray.

Should she have x-rayed to see if it was possible to fill the tooth? (root canal work possibly?)

I cant understand how she came to 2 options, crown or extraction, without an x-ray.

Please advise as his appointment is for today! :eek:

SedationDentist

Hi -
I'll give advice as best I can, but it's difficult without seeing the case
If your friend has an abscess, then almost certainly the options for treatment are extraction or root canal (this is true 90% of time unless your frind has major gum problems).
Now it's true that a root canal is gereally best followed by a crown, especially on back teeth, but crowns don't fix abscesses by themselves.
If your friend does not have an abscess, it's possible that only a crown (without root canal) may be appropriate, again hard to say without seeing the case, but that's a possible scenario.
Either way, if it was my patient, I would get an xray; preferably on first visit, but definitely before starting any treatment.
Hope that helps.

sudzs

He was on antibiotics for the abscess and has been to the dentist this afternoon to have it pulled, after having the x-ray I was worried about!

Thanks a mill for the advice!