Another Root Canal vs Extraction Thread

bobbytables

Right well I've found myself with this dilemma on my hands and need some advice from those with more experience. Up until recent years (my late 20s) I had great teeth. When I smile I have decent looking, straight teeth, with no visible problems. A few years ago I lost a large chunk of a 1st lower molar and needed quite a large filling. Job done, all was well.

Fast forward to 6 months ago, and dear sweet baby jesus one night I got a tingling sensation in the very same tooth and within hours the pain....was....mental. Went to dentist and they said I had an abscess under the tooth and my option was Root Canal vs Extraction, gave me a quote of €600 for the root canal, which I literally could not afford, and sent me off with anti-biotics. The anti-biotics & pain killers took care of abscess and pain and all was well for about a month. Was working away one morning and all of a sudden I could see a farily obvious bulge under said tooth in my gum and some minor discomfort. Oh crap!, so I called the dentist and they said "well you know what your options are, you have to make a decision, and here are more anti-biotics". So once again I took the anti-biotics and any discomfort went away. However the abscess has had good days and bad days during the past 6 months. I was never in any pain, but some days I could feel its presence and others I could not.

I am not normally a person that ignores health problems, but for financial reasons, its either a roof over my head or root canal treatment. I did try to put a few euro away whenever I could, but as you know yourself when your not in pain, what little money you have will get spent on other bills.

So 2 days ago I got a similar tingling sensation in my tooth again and made an appointment with another dentist that was recommended to me. This person said that it probably wouldn't be a big problem if I had the tooth extracted because I have every other tooth intact and it's not in my smiling line. Also considering how much of the tooth is already in filling, he said it would be weak after RCT and most likely need a crown. Also depending on the complexity of the roots, I may need to be referred to a specialist. At this stage I thought my decision was being made for me, so took my anti-biotics once again and left.

So here I am contemplating on extracting my lower 1st molar. Literally the only troublesome tooth in my mouth. I am gutted , but I have little other choice. I guess the only thing I am really worried about now is how likely this is going to affect my teeth/face in the future.

If I do get it removed (which it's looking like I will), is there any special care I can take or provisions that will help.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Extraction when all your other teeth are good is a awful shame but I understand where you are coming from.

Removal of a tooth does have certain implications:
1. Loss of bone so future implants may not be possible.
2. Drifting of the teeth either side into the space tilting these teeth and can cause bite problems.
2. Overeruption of the opposing tooth into the space sometimes causing bite problems.
3. Replacement of the tooth will cost more than the root canal in the long run.

Your face wont collapse, but it all depends on your outlook and how you value teeth. Personally if it can be save I would always save it. Ask the dentist to do a first stage root canal, this costs about 100-200 euro and will buy you more time to save to have it completed. You can get a filling in it and put off the crown for a few more years.

Best of luck with the decision.

600 euro for a molar root canal is not that bad, I was charging that in 2002.

EileenG

For what it's worth, I had a back tooth that was more filling than tooth, got an abscess and a root canal, and have had zero problems with it in the last 20 years. Considering what I've paid to dentists since then, it was a bargain.

Big_G

Try to put away some money each week, like 30 quid if you can manage it. I'm not trying to sound patronising, but if you do that, you'll have the money for it in twenty weeks, which is a shorter amount of time than you've waited already. The only issue is a crown, which you will need after root canal on this tooth, so you could double to sixty a week. It's tough I know, and maybe your dentist can help to spread the cost by staging the treatments.

Remember that for a crown you can claim 20% of the cost back from the government with a Med 2 form.

day dreamer

you have my sympathies, it is a tough decision to make.
it would be a great pity to loose the tooth if it is possible to save it. Extraction will not be the end of the world but if you could put a bit aside every week and save then it will be worth it, especially if your teeth are healthy otherwise

res ipsa

Big_G wrote: »

Remember that for a crown you can claim 20% of the cost back from the government with a Med 2 form.

Also for the root canal.

richardw001

I thought all the tax relief on dentistry were gone ?

I have a significant amount of work to be done over the next few weeks :-(
Root Canal and four fillings - I thought that I would'nt get any tax relief on it ?

DaveTwenty7

You can claim 20% of the cost of the crown and 20% of the cost of the root canal treatment back

(So thats €120 back from the root canal to put towards the crown )

www.revenue.ie/forms/med2.pdf

sudzs

If I were you I would make a huge effort and save the tooth. Years ago I didn't and now have overeruption of the opposing tooth, another extraction gap on the other side and am running out of teeth!!

If I could turn the clock back I would sell my granny to pay for root canal and a crown.

Good luck with the decision!