long story short: A few months ago a crown on my molar came off. a lot of the base of the tooth was still there, and since there was no pain, I put off going to a dentist. in the last few days, the base has starting coming off in pieces rapidly. right now, outside of the gum line, there is one small piece left and it is fixing to break off too. I am going to make an appointment in the morning, but my question is, should I see a dentist, endodontist or an oral surgeon?
An oral surgeon will pull the tooth without thinking of the possibilities of saving it. An endodontist will do a root canal, without thinking that the tooth might not be salvageable. Go to a dentist...there is a possibility that you could get a root canal done, followed with a post being inserted into one of the roots, and then you can have a crown placed on top of that. If you get xrays of the tooth, message me and I can give you a second opinion.
Ok, then definitely dont need an endodontist...go to a dentist and get a post placed, followed with a new crown (If you want to save the tooth).
btw, as long as you can see all edges of the tooth at the gum line or above it, then the tooth can be saved...most likely, at this point, the tooth typically doesnt break below that point, so you should be good to go. Just as a precaution, try chewing on the other side.
its my far back molar so I don't care about losing it. im looking for the cheapest most painless way out. if I have the pull on it, I am concerned about how the would do it since there is nothing to grag onto to pull it out. effectively, all I have left is below the gum. what if I need another root canal on thevsame molar? I recall a dentist telling me that some dont have strong enough tools to drill through an previous root canal.
swear, sometimes i don't know why I even bother to respond to "advice" threads. People never take my advice
You wont need another root canal on that tooth...it's not the root canal that is the issue here. Root canals are only done over again if a re-infection has occurred, which is not the case here. Pulling the tooth will be the cheapest immediate option, but that's not necessarily the best road to take. I'll get to that in a bit...but first, I'll explain how the tooth would be extracted. That molar (not sure if it's a top or bottom tooth) will have 2 or 3 roots...a drill would be used to section the teeth so that each tooth is treated as an individual tooth. That's the most common way to take out those teeth...in the process, some bone may have to be removed around the roots in order to be able to pull the roots out individually. Now, why avoid the extraction? The further back the molar, the more important that tooth is to your bite...just because it's not visible does not mean that it's not important. Also, if you pull the tooth, the opposing tooth will start growing out...reason being that it has no opposing force. Therefore, it's a completely worthless tooth and, at some point, will probably be extracted. Basically, you'll be down two molars instead of just one. Im not sure about the status of your other teeth, but generally speaking, getting rid of a tooth can cause problems down the line if not replaced after extraction. In any case, the extraction is definitely the cheaper route (approximately $250 without insurance). The post/core and crown will run $1250ish without insurance.
I have Aetna Dental? what about an extraction and a bridge? if I save the tooth, would I have to have a crown lengthening?
If you have Aetna, then most likely, half of all the treatment will be covered by the insurance...and maybe up to like 80% (but that's rare). Your out of pocket cost for the extraction could be in the ballpark of about $75-80...and your out of pocket cost for the post and crown could be somewhere in the neighborhood of $400. If it's the last tooth, then a bridge is not an option because the missing tooth needs to be in between two teeth. The other option would be an implant ($5,000). As far as crown lengthening, if all the edges of the tooth are at the gum line or maybe slightly below it, then you most likely do not need it. If it's a clean break right at the gum line, like I am imagining, then it shouldnt be complicated at all to take care of.
Hey codell. I'm just gonna toss this out there and you tell me what you think. How about you just go see rezdawg and let him fix that **** up for you? <-- Problem solver!! Spoiler
Yeah, Dental Art in Katy...it's apparently going to be on the 5 oclock news on channel 2. I have an idea why, but not really sure...we had a message from our answering service saying that channel 2 will discuss something we are doing...[/shameless plug]
Seems like the easiest and most logical solution. Either that, or try to save a few hundred bucks and sacrifice future quality of life.
If you want to do a bridge, not that critical to do a bone graft, unless a lot of bone was removed during the extraction. Generally though, it's not necessary unless you plan on a future implant. The cost of a bridge without insurance is typically in the range of $3000. A bridge with insurance is usually around $1100.
