To be a bit upset and surprised I need 3 teeth out?

[TheViewFromTheCheapSeats]

I only have one tooth with work, a root canal that has failed. I’d accepted it’s time to get rid of it as it been problematic.

I have no other fillings. I’ve taken better care of my teeth than ever since the root canal in 2018. In 2019/2020 around the new year I had a check up, no issues found.

I went today and following x Ray’s I also apparently have another molar and a wisdom tooth (I don’t have a wisdom tooth the other side, genetic quirk) so bad they need to go. I’ve had no pain, the dentist didn’t seem to see the issue until x rays either.

I’m a bit blindsided and upset tbh. Scared of the procedure plus the gaps.

Has anyone had a similar experience?
Guess I want to talk it out. I’m in my 40s and used to a poke around and leaving at the dentist. I just feel quite sick and anxious over it.

Why do they have to be taken out if they’re causing you absolutely no issues? I wouldn’t let him do it op

is it possible to get a second opinion?

My mum has seen 2 dentists and their opinions vary so much. It's really shocking. I would seek a second opinion just in case.

Get a second opinion. A dentist insisted he needed to remove my wisdom teeth 20 years ago, I got a second opinion that differed and have had no issues with them since. Would have been a hugely unnecessary procedure.

Get a 2nd opinion

@Winniemarysarah I was wondering. My dentist has left, this one has taken over and it was like a huge u turn. It’s the back right wisdom tooth and the back molar on the other side next to where there should be a wisdom tooth.
She was like ‘oh I’m surprised there’s no pain with decay in the root like this’. I can’t see gum or tooth pain or see the issue. She was very pleasant, we discussed removing the crowned tooth then boom- I’ll book you for those too.

I’m upset already about the crowned one as it’s a molar you’ll see in my smile. But it’s a root canal that has caused pain since it was done

Get a second opinion. Dentist might be genuine or may be profiting from unnecessary work.

I would refuse unless the dentist could clearly explain what the problem is (ie, will it cause other teeth to decay?), if it’s ‘might cause pain in the future’ it would be an ‘ok, I’ll come back then’ from me.

It’s not her profit as she’s referring for it to be done under sedation.

Yes, a wisdom tooth that had completely rotted away over covid and a top left molar. I felt no pain at all. I clean my teeth with dental floss, then teepees and finish up with a water pic and an electric toothbrush twice a day.
Dentist said sometimes the back ones just do this over many years, they often have small cracks in them which bacteria and other debris settles in causing rot from within.
I went to get dental fissure photos which show up all of the cracks in my teeth - showed 5 teeth have cracks in them so I'm having them all treated.

@TheViewFromTheCheapSeats

I’m upset already about the crowned one as it’s a molar you’ll see in my smile. But it’s a root canal that has caused pain since it was done

Can you consider an implant for the molar that will show?

I was a bit suspicious too but the evidence is clearly in the photos.

Definitely second opinion. I've never had a filling or anything else in my adult teeth. I'm moving to Spain I was told by one con artist dentist that I needed all my lower wisdom teeth out (they weren't showing or causing any pain) and that if I didn't get a brace, I wouldn't have any teeth left by the time I was 40. Total quote 900€. When I went back to my own dentist for a second opinion, he very diplomatically said that his opinion differed. Unfortunately as practically awll dentists are private, there will always be a small number who'll give you the hard sell.

Get a second opinion.

@ShrinkingViolet9 an implant is significantly out of my price range. She advised against a bridge as it would involve work on healthy teeth. She reckons as it’s a small molar it won’t be too bad (it’s quite an undersized tooth, I have some missing and small teeth- already a really shit smile)

@TheViewFromTheCheapSeats

I would get a second opinion. Many dentists are fine, but there are some dodgy ones.

I think many people (especially born before the mid 1970s) would probably have much better teeth if they had never been to a dentist. Many dentists used to drill and fill for money back in the 1970s and 1980s, and many middle aged people have a mouth full of fillings they probably didn't need to have.

OR they have a third of their teeth missing, because they were unnecessarily extracted, or their fillings turned to shit and degraded over the years, and the remaining tooth was weak and had to be extracted.

Most young people seem to have nice teeth now and many older people have rubbish teeth, (or 30-40% of them missing.) So I think many dentists are better now, but there is bound to be the odd rogue one,

Ok OP, this is nothing you have done wrong, it just is what it is. Get a second opinion for sure, but accept that is might be the same as the first. Look into getting the visible gap filled at the same time, otherwise you will think it’s all anyone is looking at (it’s not).

I have a gap or two but right at the back so I don’t even think about them.

Add issue is I’m really phobic of dental work (hence sedation). I’ve only managed as it’s been years of Poke and look.
The old dentist did a root canal, over loads of appointments. I reckon this one doesn’t want the hassle I am needing time

Definitely get a second opinion. One dentist told me DS needed a tooth out but another dentist took one look and said he could do a root canal snd that would save the tooth (which it did). Another orthodontist was absolutely insistent that DD needed 2 teeth out before she could get her braces - took her to another one who said he was surprised we’d been told that and she didn’t need them out at all. His approach took a bit longer but she now has a full set of straight teeth rather than two missing.

Some dentists do seem very happy to rush ahead and pull teeth, others will do all they can to save them. I’d want to make absolutely sure all was being done to keep them in my head if I were you.

Get a second opinion.

I had dentist refer me to have all 4 wisdom teeth out under sedation in 2004. I ignored him and the letter from the hospital. (I had a relatively minor wisdom tooth infection at the time).

I've had zero bother with them since and my current dentist says my teeth are excellent.

Second opinion for sure

I had something similar with a dentist to whom I originally went as an emergency because I had toothache. I accepted his advice that that particular tooth needed attention including root canal treatment, but then every time I went he purported to find another expensive problem even though my teeth generally are pretty tough and I hadn't noticed any issues. Ultimately I just cancelled an appointment and never rearranged it, and in practice I've had no problems since.

I’d want a second opinion on that too. Do you think the root canalled tooth has impacted on the one next to it? Before the root canal had it had an infection that was left for a while? I understand that can happen and the wisdom tooth certainly can become impacted and infected so if probs LG want that out.

*i’d probably

The teeth with issue are at the back, not near the tooth with the root canal (that has a bitch of a long standing infection, flare ups etc). The root canal Ed tooth has been hell for ages, recently a massive infection and gum boil. The next to it thankfully have no decay.

I’m less worried about the wisdom tooth, but the large molar on the other side (where I have no wisdom tooth or even a tooth bud, it’s my back tooth. It’ll be a large space