Tooth removal - Second opinion?

dickibobboy

So i’ve not been to the dentist for a number of years. I noticed a gap appear between two of my teeth over a month ago and it’s slowly become slightly sensitive.

I went to the dentist today and i was told it’s ‘gone’ and needs to come out. I accepted this and have booked in for next week (much to my hatred of dentists, i’ll not be looking forward to it)

After telling a relative about the appointment they said friends had mentioned that my dentist has been known to sometimes do unnessesary work (this may not be true..) I then had a search on the internet in general and saw a few articles regarding this for NHS practises.

Do you think it’s worth getting checked out at another dentist? I’d rather not have my tooth out, you’d only just be able to notice when i smile but it’s still bothering me that i’ll have a rather large gap there (already have a small gap on one side due to a tooth coming out ready for braces in younger years)

Thanks.

unforeseen

There is nothing stopping you going to another dentist and getting another opinion.

Only you can decide whether to or not. If you don't then you will carry on thinking that the dentist was trying to make money out of you. If you do and the answer is the same then you have paid extra for piece of mind.

If the answer is different do you get a third opinion to try to work out which of the other 2 opinions was correct?

Toothsmith

There is no incentive at all to do unnecessary work on the NHS in England & Wales. The more work a patient needs, the more it costs the dentist! So doing as little as possible is more a problem in that system nowadays.

If this is a 'wake up' call to you, then it might possibly be worth a trip to another dentist to see if this tooth could be saved - but this will undoubtably require more dental appo8ntments and more cost (very likely fixing it will only be available privately).

If you are still likely to be a dentist-dodger who thinks teeth stay in good health by magic - then a dentist who will take your teeth out as soon as possible is your best route to dental happiness.

brook2jack

In general if a gap appears between teeth there can be many causes but easily the commonest one is gum disease.

Gum disease eats away the bone holding the tooth in over a period of years and the first sign someone may have of a problem is the tooth moving, it becoming loose or painful.

An x Ray will reveal how much bone has been lost and sometimes so much has been lost there is no option but to take the tooth out.

Many people have gum disease without realising it , particularly smokers .

If you are an irregular attender it is very easy not to have trust in a dentist and people are only too happy to tell you Dental horror stories .

Yes you can go to another dentist and pay for a second opinion , but it is important to find one you trust and keep going regularly, not wait for a disaster. If keeping your teeth is important to you it sounds as if there are changes in your oral care you need to make , as the biggest influence on your oral health is not what your dentist does, it's what you do.

dickibobboy

Just an update on this.

I pushed back the appointment for the extraction i had so i could try somewhere else for a second opinion.

I went to another dentist for a check up and they identified the tooth, did some x-rays and said it could be saved by root canal instead of extraction. Obviously this is a higher cost than extraction but i’d much rather save the tooth if i can.

He told me my teeth are pretty good to say i haven’t seen a dentist or had anything done in 8 years so that was a good sign.

I’ll probably go and have the treatment done, i reckon after that i’ll probably be fine going back regularly after :rotfl:

Rosiemurphy

Personally I try to keep on to my teeth as long as possible unless they are causing extreme pain like my wisdom tooth - that had to come out !!!

mal4mac

Wouldn't a root canal leave you with an inferior tooth likely to cause you more problems, and pain, in the future? I had two teeth extracted a couple of years ago and have had no problems - I don't miss them at all, I still have plenty to chew with. Initially I was worried about there being large gap top and bottom, maybe just detectable when I smile, but in practice the gaps haven't been any bother, and I still smile without scaring the children.