• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

    Register now to access all the features of the forum.

Can I ask to have teeth removed?

J

jaelyn

Junior member
Joined
Apr 16, 2011
Messages
2
I know I have bad oral health due to several issues, including hating the foam from toothpaste in my mouth, and having a bad experience with a dentist as a young teen, which means I have few proper teeth remaining in my upper jaw. What I have left are 6 teeth, one is capped (left canine, and this tooth is loose), one is a bridge (right canine and tooth to the left of it and of the rest one tooth is broken (tooth 2 to the left of left canine). I have a partial upper denture which I find quite uncomfortable (the plate seems to be very big). I asked my current dentist if he would just take the last few teeth out and give me a full upper denture, but he said he couldnt do this as it is against the law to take out a healthy tooth. I really feel I would be better off having a full upper denture that fits properly rather than dreading having to wear the partial denture (which I only so if I have to go out). Can I insist that the dentist remove the teeth or is there a procedure I can go through to get permission to have it done? I am on Income Support so I have my dental work done on the NHS and I am wondering if this is the underlying factor in the dentist not doing what I ask?
 
Hello Jaelyn,

I don't think a dentist will extract a healthy tooth unless there is something wrong with it, from my experience most dentists will try saving a tooth that has either cracked or has serious problems so I doubt they would extract a healthy tooth.

Why don't you ask your dentist about any alternatives to your situation as if this healthy tooth is getting in the way of you getting a full denture then he/she should advise you of what you can do.
 
I doubt it's against the law in UK but it could be seen as professionally unethical.
 
Thanks for the replys, had to visit the dentist Monday as an emergency as the previously mentioned loose canine was really painful. I actually saw my daughters dentist as she had a check up that day and he kindly fitted me in at the end of her session. The crowned tooth had got an infection in it which has spread under the gum of the final 2 teeth that side, so the dentist has recommended that all 3 be removed. That will just leave one whole tooth and the 2-tooth bridge the other side and he feels it would probably be better to take those out and have a full upper denture made. So looks like I will get what I wanted, although I could have done without the pain and course of antibiotics beforehand.
 
Back
Top