I have an impacted wisdom tooth that is also infected. Above it I have a molar which has already had two root canal treatments. It doesn’t feel right. My dentist wants me to remove the wisdom tooth, but I want both teeth removed and he is refusing to remove the one with the root canal treatment. Why would he do this? I haven’t moved forward on any treatment yet because I want to do them both at once.
Mandy
Dear Mandy,
My guess as to why your dentist doesn’t want to extract both teeth is he has integrity. Let’s say he did extract that tooth. He’d make money on the extraction. Then, guess what? You’d have to replace that tooth. More money for your dentist. If you wanted the best replacement, a dental implant, that would be even more money. Instead, he is telling you the tooth is fine and doesn’t need to be extracted. I would count his integrity as a blessing.
So, why is the tooth above hurting? I haven’t examined you. However, if it is hurting and he’s told you the wisdom tooth is infected, then it seems to me that the infection from your wisdom tooth is either referring pain or is spreading.
Dental infections are considered emergencies for just this reason. Plus, they aren’t something you can just take an antibiotic for. A dentist has to get in there and physically remove the infection by either a root canal treatment or an extraction. With a wisdom tooth, especially an impacted wisdom tooth, it makes more sense to do the extraction. They aren’t teeth that need to be saved, like the molar does.
I’m sure you would be able to find another dentist willing to accept those extra fees from unnecessary procedures, but I am going to recommend you stay with your current dentist who cares more about what is best for you than what is best for his bank account.
Please don’t put off the extraction, especially if this infection is already spreading as I suspect. Your jaw is close to your heart, lungs, and brain. If it reaches those areas, it can turn life-threatening. This is one of the reasons people still die from tooth infections.
This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.