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.

I had one set of wisdom teeth taken out 20 years ago as they were impacted. I was told I'd have to have the other set out as they were also impacted and would never right themselves. 20 years later those wisdom teeth have righted themselves...

I would go for a 2nd opinion.
I had a dental phobia but had a good hospital dentist who got shut down due to cut backs. Next dentist would not accept what I wanted.she used to refer me for expensive sedation. (Last experience was not good) I had a small chip on a tooth that she insisted must come out. Then I chipped one near the front and was too afraid to go back. 2 abcesses and the tooth at the front broke I knew I had to see someone.
I found a new dentist who is lovely. He saved the back chipped tooth and I let him take the other one out ( my family couldn't believe that I did this). It honestly didn't hurt and I was able to eat later.
He tells me what he thinks I should get done but it is my choice. The other woman, you had no choice what she said went.
I can't speak highly enough of my new dentist.

So op find yourself a new dentist, one you can relax with and who lets you decide what you have done.
If no pain and you want to keep it that should be the way.

Please be careful. I had my back wisdom teeth extracted in my mid 30s twenty years ago and the dentist caused permanent nerve damage on both sides from which I never recovered. Bottom wisdom teeth are notorious for this, especially in older adults where the root has grown near to the nerve. Although I had been experiencing a bit of discomfort with my wisdom teeth, when he took them out they turned out to have been heathy. Get a second opinion.

I would most definitely get a second dentist to check. I had my wisdom tooth removed last year in hospital after 4 lots of antibiotics due to infection. My surgeon advised me they only remove as a last resort now due to the damage it can cause to the 2 nerves that run along the jaw close to wisdom teeth. My recovery was worst than I excepted and was very painful.

If it’s not causing you any problems then I can’t see why it needs to be removed.

Meant to say bottom wisdom teeth not back wisdom teeth!

sweetsare exactly - that is what happened to me - some days it still really gets me down, 20 years later. It’s eg 20 years since I have been able to kiss anyone.

I've just had three teeth removed basically broken root caused an infection which no-one noticed for years which wiped out three teeth total ive now got to have false teeth on that side im mid forties and it's awful

I’ve had 4 teeth out all at the back ,I had bulimia for 30 years ,so it was my own fault will probably need a plate at some point .

Can you get a second opinion? I'd be upset about that too.

I've got a (private) flexible bridge for 2 (large) gaps as denture felt ill fitting. . I avoided extraction & I got loads of infections as a result. I collapsed in the street at one point Still took me ages to do it. For any women who are peri M, the hormone changes do affect teeth. Even teeth. Totally Sucks. Then I remember my Gran had no teeth by age 30!

Mine are all top teeth. A plus as less scary, but cosmetically shit

I had a gap and was told not to have a bridge for the same reason - they didn't want to do work on healthy teeth. They stuck a fake tooth onto the one next to the gap. It's cheap, probably won't last for ever but when it fails there is no damage to the tooth it's stuck to. Really easy.

I was going to ask how old you were, then saw 40’s, which is exactly what I would have guessed. Both of my parents went through a lot of dental work in their 40’s out of the blue, they are now 70 and teeth have never been better.

@LittleDandelionClock

I agree. My current dentist told me that all the fillings I was given in the mid 1980s were pointless, shallow and did nothing but weaken my teeth.

Definitely ask for a second opinion.

I am one of the pre 1970’s group who would have probably been better off never seeing a dentist. I had one dentist for several years whose speciality was root canal fillings whether they were needed or not. He was eventually struck off and during the investigations I was examined to try and establish why so many root canal fillings had been necessary.

Am now extremely cautious of having any unexpected treatment. I have recently been told by a new Dentist that I need two extractions. I asked for a second referral with an endodontician.

After a CT scan, he has advised that the top tooth can probably be re-root filled (70% chance of success) and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the bottom tooth. The shadow the original dentist was concerned about is actually being caused by a post obscuring the roots in the X Ray.

Before losing teeth I would always check it is absolutely essential.

By all means get a second opinion. Surely she would have showed you the xrays and pointed out where the decay is?

Back in the 70s, yes I think there was an excess of dental work carried out. But now due to the NHS banding system there is no incentive for an NHS dentist to over treat a patient. They will make less money that way, not more. In fact, in my experience now is that we have the opposite problem. Many dentists will knowingly under treat patients and not address issues such as decay or RCT because they won't get paid any extra for it. They get paid the same whether they do one or 20 fillings in the same course of treatment.

If you have been attending the dentist for regular check-ups for the past few years then It sounds like your previous dentist has let this slip either unknowingly by not taking radiographs or intentionally by not bringing it to your attention.

Now the new dentist has to deal with it and take the flack. I've been in this position multiple times. I even had a patient put a complaint in against me because I told her her molars were severely decayed. The worst thing was that it was all on the xray which had been taken 3 years previously by her previous dentist (my colleague in the dental practice). He had not made her aware or treated any of her issues. Her teeth were a ticking time bomb. Instead she got angry with me and insisted on going back to her old useless dentist who would tell her everything was just fine.

Oh well, I'm sure she will realise I was right when all her molars fall to pieces one day whilst eating her cornflakes shrugs

Your dentist doesn't stand to gain anything by referring you for an extraction under sedation. But of course you need to be happy with the treatment proposed and understand it correctly, with alternative options having been explained. Go back to her and tell her you are feeling anxious about the treatment plan and if she could talk you through it again.

I'll go against the grain - personally I'd just get it done.
For me it's a bonus if something can be done before it's agony, particularly if you need to go on a waiting list for sedation.

Find a new dentist via the dentalphobia.co.uk website. The dentists on there are qualified to deal with very anxious patients and many are qualified to carry out work under sedation without referring.

Good luck. Dental pain is awful and dental phobia is a pain.

My dental implants cost £1000 at the Brighton implant centre. Much cheaper than the usual £-4k everywhere else. I travel there from Somerset, prefer it to going abroad.
The first one has lasted 10 years so far and I'm going for another one next month.

@chilliplant634 thank you for your perspective. Tbf my last appt was literally a look in my mouth and it was all fine. No x-rays. Definitely good for thought.

I’m caught in the middle. The old one maybe being careless, but the new being careless in another way. The emergency dentist I saw was of the thought of filling one tooth and re-doing the root canal, I wonder if the new one really doesn’t want slow work on a nervous patient? The old one did Tbf do the root canal and spend so much time it can’t have been worth her while, the new was a bit ‘oh, you wouldn’t be able to tolerate that’.

Oh god this makes me panic about my own teeth and may just prompt me to make an appointment with the dentist.
You have my sympathies, I have terrible teeth, despite regular (non Covid times) dentist visits and I dread more work.

I guess second opinions really do matter!

She’s actually sent the x-ray over (I doubt it will be recognised?) @chilliplant634

Thanks for the xray. Yes you can clearly see the decay in the upper second molar. Can you see the big shadow under the enamel towards the back of the tooth? It's pretty much touching the nerve of the tooth. (The nerve is the black triangle area in the centre of the tooth. If it looks like that on the xray then it's likely that when the tooth is opened up the decay may well already be into the nerve. It also looks like it may be extending under the gum line and almost onto the root of the tooth. Contrary to what a lot of people think sometimes teeth do die of silently.

If you were my patient I would say r.e. the upper 2nd molar:

Decay is very deep probably into nerve. Looks from the xray that it is even extending under the gum line. This makes the filling more difficult.

Options.

1. Do nothing. Decay will continue. Tooth will die. Likely to experience toothache. Eventually will cause infection which will lead to pain and possibly an abscess.

1. Open tooth up. Remove decay. If no exposure of the nerve found, will try and put a special lining and fill. In this scenario there is a high likelihood or tooth still needing root canal treatment later down the line. Highly likely to experience sensitivity after the filling for a month or two. Will be a very large filling and not not easiest to do. Will be amalgam filling on NHS band 2.

1. Open up tooth, remove decay, decay is into the nerve. In this case can do RCT if you want to keep the tooth. Bear in mind, due to how extensive the decay is the tooth will be weakened afterwards, so would recommend Crown. Crowns provide protection for the tooth from the flexing movements of the cusps which occur during chewing. This would be a band 3 treatment on the NHS. The crown provided would be metal in colour. White crowns can be provided, but not on the NHS.

I can't see the Lower wisdom tooth properly. I need a periapical xray to assess it properly.

The point is OP. If you are a very anxious patient can you hack the number of appointments needed for an RCT and crown? They will be long appointments and multiple ones.

I’d get a second opinion, I went to the same dentist for years, the husband in a husband and wife dental practise. The first and only time I saw the wife she said, ‘Oh you need a root canal!’ on a tooth that was already filled. Off I went and booked it in. Showed up for the procedure to see the husband again and he said I didn’t need it. That was 5 years ago and no issues!

*practice!! Sorry!