Root canal treatment v. Extraction?

araic88

Last year I had problems with a lower wisdom tooth and an xray showed it would be easily removed so the dentist did it there and then. However he said the others would also need coming out. To be honest, because they weren't hurting I didn't feel the same urgency, and it also seemed to take ages to get an appointment with the oral surgeon who only works in the clinic near me once a month.
Anyway I saw the surgeon yesterday (after getting a new xray as it was more than a year since the last). She said the three would have to come out and that the molar next to the other lower one had quite a bit of decay and would either need a large filling / root canal treatment or I could opt to have it extracted. She said it would be after the others are removed, which actually can't be until late October, so I probably won't see the dentist til November to see what he thinks. If I do have to chose though, I won't know which to choose!
What does root canal treatment involve? I think she said it would take about 3 visits? Is that the treatment that is supposed to be very painful? If I had the tooth extracted, would it have to be replaced with a dental implant? From the pricelist I saw at the dentist's office they look expensive! Aaargh such hassle! And would I have to wait long after the others come out to have this treatment?

Xpro

Hi,
I would like to say that tooth extraction should be the last resort,when everything else fails.
I just had a root canal done a few weeks ago, i was in huge pain for ages and this was the only option i had, or tooth out:(

Anyways, in my case it took a few days to get this done as i had to wait for inflammation to settle down. The procedure was done without the anestethic and to be honest it wasnt too bad. They use small needles to extract the nerve out and after this is done they fill it. Job done

Hope all goes well w

araic88

Thanks for the reply
Luckily the tooth doesn't hurt at all, even when the surgeon pressed down on it with something and asked did it hurt. I guess you're right to try and save the tooth unless impossible!

Thanks again