Could A Dentist Have Saved My Tooth Rather Than Extracting It?

Although the answer to this question may seem obvious to any dentist, it is not always easy for a patient to understand. It also works both ways. A dentist maybe absolutely 100-percent sure that your tooth needs to be extracted but the patient may feel that the tooth could and should be preserved. At the other end of the spectrum is where a dentist is reluctant to extract a tooth and he wants to save it but the patient is adamant that they would like the tooth extracted.

There are a number of important and overwriting factors that a dentist will consider before extracting a tooth. General factors will be the general condition of the dentition remaining. It may not be viable to keep a tooth if it is foreseeable that the patient will lose most/all of their remaining dentition due to such as periodontitis or dental caries.

Is will be most commonly related to periodontal disease or lack of remaining structural integrity of the tooth.  It may be that a tooth can be saved but the patient has refused to have treatment leading to its ultimate demise.  In addition, a situation commonly arises where due yo extensive caries, the tooth can be root filled but then the tooth cannot be restored adequately afterwards.

The best advice for a patient is always to have a thorough and detailed conversation and discussion with a dentist before having a tooth extracted. Important areas to discuss are the exact reason why a dentist maybe advocating extracting a tooth. Have all the options been given to you and within each option have you had a discussion about the long and short-term prognosis and outcome. This is important as you do not want to be spending a significant amount of money on a tooth which may not last for an adequate length of time. Therefore it would make more sense to save that money and put that forward into the future treatment. As the common saying goes, “ you do not want to be throwing good money after bad.”

You may have heard of iatrogenic causes of tooth loss. This occurs due to treatment not going as planned and a tooth has to be lost.