Dentist appointment left me in tears - help, advice needed please

Hey everyone,
I will give you some background first. I'm 29 years old and I was born and raised in Cyprus. I left when I was 18 and moved abroad. I now live in the UK. I had quite a bit of dental treatment in Cyprus as a kid to include crowns and root canals. One of which (lower first left molar broke a few years ago and was filled temporarily) I recently noticed a bump on that molar, and a small bump above my upper first pre-molar (which is crowned) so I made an appointment to see my dentist yesterday. He took x-rays and noticed that I have a chronic infection on my lower first left molar and it turns out the dentist in Cyprus broke an instrument in there during the root canal. The cost of fixing this would be a lot and the dentist say the success rate is very low so we should pull it. Then moving on to my upper molars on the left. My 1st and 2nd molars also have a chronic infection above them and need to come out (I'm not bothered about losing that 2nd molar as dentist said there will be no implications on bite) - this is all due to poor dental work in Cyprus. My first premolar needs to be extracted too but I'm having an adhesive bridge there as well as a root canal on one of my front teeth (which was also treated in Cyprus previously)

I'm considering implants for my lower and upper first molars but at £2500 each, there's no way I can get these done anytime soon! So I was thinking of have those 3 molars (1st lower and upper and 2nd upper - wisdom tooth on the upper left has already been removed) removed and seeing how I get on and then possibly considering implants in the future. Another option was to remove those molars and get an implant just for the lower first to prevent the teeth around it from shifting and just leaving the upper two molars with nothing but that would also be in the far future as I'm currently paying for a root canal and eventually a crown on my lower first right molar.

Does anyone have their upper left molars missing? And possibly a lower first left molar?

Have you had any problems with eating etc?!

This has made me really depressed as I'm only 29 and need all this work done! The dentist said that the teeth I have that haven't been worked on are extremely healthy but the ones that have been worked on, such a bad job was done initially that they can't be saved!

Any advice would be appreciated

Stefy,

I'm very sorrry you are going through this.. I had a similiar sitatuion as far as really bad dentistry until I was 30. and then I was told I needed to pull my five front bottom teeth and other work , and get partial dentures, then I ended up losing 2 bottom molars on right side to add to my missing teeth and within the past year have had 2 out on top right.. Anyways, I understand the sinking feeling when they tell you this.. I have bottom partial because of all this and to be honest.. i chew better wtihout the denture than with.. if you have some teeth to work with on top.. you will be ok if you have to get by for a while. its not optimal but I have survived. this long.. I know what you mean about implants too. they are costly and its hard to come up with that...

StefyS said:

Hey everyone,
The dentist said that the teeth I have that haven't been worked on are extremely healthy but the ones that have been worked on, such a bad job was done initially that they can't be saved!

Any advice would be appreciated

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Hi StefyS sorry you got such bad news. The good news is 'the teeth I have that haven't been worked on are extremely healthy'

It might be an idea to get a second opinion for peace of mind given that there is more than one option.
If you do go for retreatment of any of the root canals rather than extracting them, get referred to a specialist endodontist.
If you can do one implant - the lower molar is probably the most important although I m not a dentist. Don't know if you had considered a bank loan to get fixed optimally at this point?
I take it you are not seeing an NHS dentist as they don't do implants. Again get referred to a dentist who does lots of implants for the best result. What year did the dentist you are seeing qualify? Do they own the practice? How did they react to you, were they sympathetic? You need someone experienced to advise you in your best interest. Good luck

Hey just wanted to chime in. I went back to a dentist at 30...and needed a ton of work redone from a very cruddy dentist...and all my teeth that hadn't had work were healthy despite my 10 year avoidance of the dentist.

Can't speak to the molars...i have mine for now...we'll see if that is true after my next appointment tomorrow.

I would also suggest another opinion if you are up for that...also if you want implants later talk to your dentist about options for preventing bone loss or monitering the area while you save for them. I waited 4 years for a bottom premolar implant and was fine...but we monitored the area at my 6 mo cleanings.

Hello,

First let me say that I'm sorry you are going through all of this. It's painful and scary to lose your teeth. I have been without molars for quite some time and I will tell you that chewing without them is difficult. I will also say that if you do not get implants to replace them, your jaw bone which supports your molars will begin to shrink and it will make any patials or bridges you have loose over time. I am having the remainder of my teeth extracted and full mouth implants next week. Due to bone loss where my molars once were I need to also have bone grafting and a sinus lift done. This could have been prevented had I gotten the implants sooner. Talk with your dentist and discuss your options.
There is a program called Care Credit to help with financing cost of dental work. It will be more expensive to wait.

Thank you so much for your replies everyone. Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply back!
My dentist is a partner at the practice and I think he has been qualified for a very long time. He seems quite sympathetic but I do need a second opinion. I’m just very wary that all dentists will just want my money so I’ve asked for my x-rays from my dentist in the hopes that someone on here might be able to look at them for me! Fixing my teeth is going to be a slow process as I don’t have the money to do it in one go but I can’t wait until it’s all sorted! I won’t make the same mistake now of not going to the dentist for years