Root canal V extraction

[Newnamenewme13]

Posting here for traffic as I'm panicking a little...
My son is 10 and needs 2 possibly 3 root canal, or extraction... has anyone any experience similar and can you tell me what you decided to do please?
I'm getting so many opinions and he is in a lot of pain, I don't know which is preferable??
Any info very much appreciated

Where’s “here” OP? Not sure if you’ve already posted but clearly RCS and NICE guidelines don’t apply in other countries. That’s not to say they’re not still very excellent but culturally, things differ.

I lecture on medical ethics and gave a keynote in an Eastern European country a few years ago. It turned into a (very well natured) debate about the sanctity of ovaries and whether a surgeon could just whip one out if he noticed something odd with it during an unrelated procedure.

Training and guidelines differ hugely, a lot of it can depend on how healthcare is funded (some models encourage low risk, highly remunerated procedures).

The advice on here is second to none though and what I would follow on my children.

I’m going to echo here that those 3 6s are shot and the upper left should go to (based on an OPG obviously with a caveat that you would need to clinically fully assess a patient) If you are in the UK and it was an NHS dentist I am slightly incredulous that you managed to find not one but two dentists advising root canal. That would be the exact opposite of a money making treatment plan. To be honest even if you are elsewhere or it is UK and private then I can also think of many many easier ways to make money as a dentist.

If they were younger dentists, sometimes there is a reluctance to attempt extraction as they are not comfortable taking teeth out just because of lack of training or they feel they need to try every single thing that can be done to a tooth before extracting it.

Anyway hope your son gets sorted soon, I love seeing an OPG like that doing assessments both because it’s a fairly straightforward treatment plan but also because once those teeth are gone you massively reduce the likelihood of the child every needing any particularly invasive dental treatment again.

I think a lot of it is to try to save adult teeth if at all possible because ultimately you cannot change your mind if you extract them. But in your case I think you've made the right decision.

I have him on a waiting list for extraction now, thank you all so much for the help, I truly appreciate it