Last year, I had to have my left side, rear most molar removed, and it was recommended I get the one above it removed as well. I was 65. It took a little while to get used to chewing, because I was missing a couple of teeth.

At 71, if one has to be pulled, I would probably have both pulled and be done with it. The extra cost for the other tooth would be minimal, because you’re already paying for the services/anesthesia for the one being removed.

Funny you should mention this. At my last cleaning I asked the girl what the worst food for one's teeth one could eat is and she answered "popcorn!".



OK thanks for the input!

I already had one pulled a couple years ago and IIRC it really wasn't very expensive. Crowns now.....whole different story! ;)

^^^ I’ve got three crowns. One up front and two molars. They ain’t cheap!

I had my 2nd lower right side molar, #31 extracted last year. The dentist had done a crown prep on this tooth that years before had a crown and root canal done. The crown was failing so his plan was to replace it. Over the weekend after the prep I started to experience severe pain. It had cracked and was infected. Luckily an endodontist made room for me in his schedule and I had it yanked. I didn't replace it. It was a bit weird at first but I don't notice it at all anymore.

I've heard that the hard shell from popcorn getting shoved down between the tooth and gum and causing issues before. Any time I eat popcorn, I floss and brush to try to make sure that I get everything cleared out after I have popcorn.

I had a similar experience.
After a root canal and cap I was still having pain.
Called my endodontist and he looked at his notes and said go to my dentist and report back.
I go to my dentist and he says nothing here go to the endodontist.
I go to the endodontist and he finds a crack in the wisdom tooth beside it.
Back to the dentist and he says yup, lets pull it.
Now I go to a specialist for extraction cause I'm not getting a warm fuzzy feeling from my dentist.
I had no idea how difficult it is to pull a wisdom tooth when you are 60!
Anyway. Maybe it's a different tooth?

I had a upper wisdom tooth pulled a few weeks ago. In mexico. We are here for the winter. I am terrified of dentists, so to say I was a bit anxious about finding a dentist in mexico is an understatement. But we are living on a sailboat and the sailing community is pretty tight and helpful. Long story short, I had a chunk of the tooth break off while eating breakfast. So I got a couple of recommendations for the same doctor and it was one of the best, pain free dental experiences Ive ever had, and cash payment was about the same as my deductible in the states.

But the tooth had needed to come out for a long time. The doctor canceled my appointment in the states shortly before we left, so I figured I could wait 6 months and get it done when we got back. Wrong. My issue sounds like the OPs issue- frequent gum pain around the tooth. But I knew what was causing it. Receding gum and separation from the tooth. Frequent, every 3 month teeth cleanings help. You get plaque build up and the gum pulls away from the tooth. Plaque goes deeper, and cycle continues. No bueno.

I was able to put off treatment sometimes by frequent flossing, picking between teeth, and mouth wash. If anything, get it taken care of for your heart health. Oral infection affects your heart health.

I had a cracked rear molar on my right top. I personally think it was cracked by the guy who removed my wisdom teeth as he used it for leverage with his pliers.

My dentist suggested removal saying rear molars aren't necessary and I would probably get used to it being gone. He was right, doesn't bother me at all.

I had a very old amalgam filling give up and take a big piece of a molar with it. Root canal and a crown was the remedy. That was two years ago. It is still temperature and pressure sensitive. :(

Not to bore you with my dental mistakes of over 25 years ago. The one thing that my dentist and oral surgeon recommended was incorporating the use of a water pic into my daily routine. It has made all the difference in the world. Goes like this, water pic, brush, mouthwash. I swear by that water pic.

That's surprising. I would have thought that the root canal (removing the nerve) would have removed any sensitivity.

I had an upper left molar removed some years ago. The imbalance does not bother me. I do find my self chewing more on the right hand side. When I am thinking about chewing I will go left too.

Hey everyone! Just got home. Everything went great!

After some film was taken and analyzed plus some back and forth discussion, my dentist ultimately discovered by doing some probing the tooth actually had a fracture. At that point it was a no-brainer to pull the tooth. I was OK with it because that was what I was thinking all along would be the best approach to finally put and end to this entire saga!

Luckily they could squeeze me in and the husband dentist was the one who did the deed. The tooth ended up grenading, so wasn't a clean extraction per se.

Also I found out it was #32 molar....not #2......

Waiting now for the left side of my mouth to get back to normal.....:D

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Gosh Baz...
I know I was bloviating on teeth stuff last night...

But you didn't have to pull your tooth to make me feel good....:)


Sorry it seemed to be a fracture. You took it in good spirits. Not everyone does. I was glad to see the tooth in front is already crowned.

Based on that I guess the other side second molar (tooth 31 is crowned as well)

Sometimes even crowning teeth isn't enough.....

The tooth that was extracted #18 (or as you stated #17 - a third molar) was crowned as well. I think it's #18, but it doesn't matter...(assuming the Dentist's pics were aligned correctly) What matters is it was crowned before the root canal was done (hence the hole in the crown seen in pics.). Not knowing the history, I'm guessing the tooth was cracked, needed a crown, nerve died, needed a root canal, endodontist drilled hole in crown, did rct, yet even that wasn't enough. Sometimes, the tooth can crack further with all the right things done. Seems like this was the right endpoint- hope you are doing okay.


When you walk into the dentist's office next time, pat your self on the back for being such a good patient. Seriously! :)

Based on the pics- looks like the left side is shored up. (tooth #19- the molar to the left of the molar extracted- already has a crown.) Good.
Make sure the right side is shored up. Not giving advice- but there is more bone than I was expecting on the left side- perhaps- if you are interested, you are an implant candidate.

The bone loss patterns are not what I expected, but the probings the dentist made would tell it all.

Take it easy bro! Don't lean down to do any auto work for a week or two. Get better!


For a happy naptime tale... listen to leakyseals...

"once upon a time, there was a dentist, who would work for other dentists who were practice owners. Leaky's own dad was a dentist, and the business side of things soured leaky's interest in ownership. Instead, Leaky never took on a 1 million loan to own such a debt.
Instead, he worked under other practice owners.
Which is kind of cool/ kind of not.

While Leaky was pi$$ing his time away here, and enjoying life....

Turns out, the practice owners were so stressed out, they never took the time to care for their own teeth. Sadly, they were under so much stress, the practice owners (i.e. - bosses) cracked their own teeth and needed care. Enter me- the associate, coming in and doing the very same procedure to my bosses. I have hemisected, trisected, rct's ext'd more bosses teeth than you could imagine."
Not an enviable task.

Hope you feel better.
Take care,
Ron

Hi Ron...thanks for checking in and on me - and for the humor lol - I'm good! Went through some pain earlier but most of it has now gone away. Maybe the Tylenol and Naproxen helped (?)

In the middle of something right now but I will post again later tonight with much more about today. I think you will enjoy some of it.

I brought my camera in with me. Took a few photos for ya.....:)

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More later......SmileWavy

Loving the Blue Marlin!!!! :)

Is this the dentist who is a volvo owner?

Sailfish. Easy mistake to make.

Trying to think of the Volvo owner you are thinking of. Not my dentist. Maybe you mean me?

Anyhoo......while I was checking out, I made sure to thank the staff there (the wife dentist was there) for how well they handled everything today. That coming to their facility was the complete opposite of most people's concept of a visit to their dentist.

With 2 parents from the Greatest Generation - it was instilled into me my entire life to express gratitude to others when they earn it. So yeah - maybe it helps balance things out for those are unable to grasp the concept of gratitude.

Getting back to the tooth situation. Your synopsis of how we ended up here is fairly accurate. The dentist today....after studying the new film told me I had two options. Go to a different endodontist than the one who did my rc and have them do everything over. Or pull the tooth. Then (and this is significant) she did some probing....and found the fracture. And that's when it was decided option B was the only option to choose.

The rest is the rest. The only thing outside of SOP was when the tooth broke apart. My dentist: "It's like an M-80 went off."

That was the husband who did the extraction. The wife everything earlier. I have been friends with then since they took the building over from the previous dentist who retired. He was also my dentist. I have done landscaping work for both at that property including a complete overhaul for the former dentist - much of which is still in place. The new dentist likes tropical stuff and brought in a bunch of bromeliads he has planted in various places there. I have delivered plants to them at their home and they have brought plants up for me from S Florida where they have a place in the Keys. So for us it's not just a dr/patient relationship.

I also received a couple stitches today so will return to have those taken out in a couple days. Probably collateral from the extra work getting the broken fragments out.

The building they are in was designed by a local architect friend of mine and is really really nice. This architect is well known in the area and when I was still in the landscaping business hooked me up with many of his clients for projects he was doing.

Ron, you would really like how technically up to speed they are there. Very professional yet with a easy personality.

Few more photos.....

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Did you drive yourself home? When I had my teeth pulled, I had to have a driver take me home. No driving yourself or Uber.

Drove myself. Actually did a bunch of errands afterwards and didn't get home for a few hours. Even did some work on one of my motorcycles at my storage unit.

I only got one tooth pulled and had a local not a general, so maybe that's the difference (?)

Maybe so. I had the propofol so it was lights out for me.