Broken decayed molar, what are my options?

intothewild1

Hi

My back left molar is decayed and almost a quarter/half of it is gone but there is no further 'black' colour or decay on the tooth and I wanted to know what my options are. I haven't been in the dentist in years and I am a bit scared about going, it doesn't pain me at the moment but now and again it can be very painful. I also have to eat my food on the right side of my mouth to not hurt it. But generally it doesn't hurt. I wanted to know if the dentist does decide to remove it will it be replaced with anything, I say that because would it be odd not to a half nothing in that space especially for eating.

Thanks for you help.

Mingetoad

Without seeing the tooth, the general possibilities are:
It needs a filling
It needs a crown
It needs a root canal (and if so, likely a crown afterwards)
It cannot be saved and needs extracted (doesn't sound likely if it has a lot of tooth left)
If it cannot be saved, then you can either leave the gap, get a denture, get a bridge or get an implant.

So really, just go to the dentist asap as the longer you leave it, the further down the list you will find your treatment options!