Suspicious Advice From Her Dentist

I had a toothache and, though I was terrified, went in to see someone who advertised as an emergency dentist. I don’t have a regular one myself because I really struggle with dental anxiety. He did an x-ray on a tooth that had a filling in it and said that this tooth had an infection and it was beyond repair. He recommended pulling the tooth and replacing it with a dental implant. I’m really having a hard time with this and wonder if it is my only option. He did give me an antibiotic while I waited on my extraction appointment.

Amanda

Dear Amanda,

No, this is not your only option. In fact, I am a bit suspicious of the advice you are getting. Before we get into that, I want to provide some help to you with your dental anxiety. You are not alone in avoiding the dentist because of fear. The good news is that there are great solutions for this. In your place, I would look for a dentist who offers sedation options. This will allow you to have an anxiety-free and pain-free dental appointment. If you get oral conscious sedation, you could even sleep through your appointment if you wanted to.

Now, as to this toothache. For a tooth to be as far gone as this dentist you went to said, he would not need an X-ray to know that. In fact, you would be able to tell yourself. Your filling would have fallen in on itself and you’d have been in serious pain for quite a bit. You mentioned it just started hurting. By the way, great job getting in right away despite your anxiety. That’s a brave thing to do and very wise. People who delay treatment end up with much more extensive problems with serious dental emergencies and more invasive treatments than those who are proactive.

The one thing I agree with this dentist about is that if you actually did need to extract a tooth, than a dental implant is the best replacement option. However, I’m not convinced you are in that situation. My recommendation is that you get a second opinion on this tooth. The antibiotic should help a bit with the pain.

When you do get your second opinion, make sure it is a blind opinion. By that, I mean that you don’t tell the second dentist what the first dentist said or even who he is. Just tell him that you want a second opinion on your tooth. If he asks you about the first dentist or his diagnosis, just say you want a blind second opinion and he or she should understand that.

This blog is brought to you by a compassionate endodontist in San Antonio, Dr. Scott Janse.