1st Molar-Extraction instead of crown lengthening?

[jake1234]

I got a root canal done on my lower 1st molar 2 months ago and I just went in to get a mold done for a crown. But when I went in for the mold they said I would need a crown lengthening and they wanted to do it then. I said no I need to think about it and I don't even want to do it...So they "built up" the tooth and put on a temp crown and now here I am. I just got 4 wisdom teeth pulled, a bunch of fillings, horrible abscess and a root canal. I'm so tired of dental work and recovery so I don't want to do it. I'm thinking of just getting the tooth that I had the root canal done on just extracted (1st molar). Also note that I no longer care how my teeth look just as long as there's no pain and no other dental procedures (besides a cleaning every 6 months). I just want to get this done with and go on with regular life. So if I did get that tooth extracted how would the next 10 years look? Will I have major problems?

Also, my insurance runs out in 11 days so I'm looking to make a decision with a day or so.

Thank you!

 

[brit]

I'm not a dentist but would strongly advise you to get the crown lengthening done and the crown finished. Pulling the tooth after spending out on it for a root canal seems like a waste of money time and effort.
We all need our molars especially to chew and eat our food and they are the teeth most likely to be filled/crowned and extracted.
Good luck - you already have an end in sight anyway so what is another couple of appts? Recovering from a crown is easier than recovering from an extraction anyway.

Sometimes if a tooth has had a root canal dentists suggest working without novacaine since there is no nerve - you can have it though regardless and for crown lengthening it would be normal to have it so it should all be painfree.
Best wishes.

 

[jake1234]

Thank you very much Brit for the advice and encouragement. My insurance has covered pretty much all of the root canal, I think I paid a $10 co-pay. The thing is with the crown lengthening is that my insurance will not cover it and I'm not so sure I can afford a couple hundred dollar bill at the moment. If I did get the CL done, It'd be within a week and I'd have to pay a couple hundred and then my insurance would run out before the crown would be able to be made and shipped. That's why I'm considering just going out and getting the extraction for cheap, although as you pointed out there are consequences. Of course, I'm just trying to convince myself just to go with the extraction by writing all this...but yeah.

Thank you again!

 

[comfortdentist]

Dentistry is really pretty easy you just have to restore teeth properly and keep your teeth clean, have a good diet, and don't smoke. It is often necessary to perform crown legthening in order to place a crown and still have healthy tissues. To try and do the crown without it might result in a poorly fitted crown and constant tissue inflammation.

 

[jake1234]

Thanks for the replies. I am moving states in 3 weeks so I have alot of work to do and stress. With that being said I have decided to just get the root canal-ed tooth extracted instead of the crown lengthening, build up and crown. The tooth is my bottom left 1st molar and everyone keeps telling me that my top tooth will move down eventually, but as it is now they aren't even touching each other and don't when I chew either. Also, I've had my wisdom teeth pulled out so will my second molar stay put? My father has had the exact same tooth extracted for many years without problems except for occasionally biting down a piece of food on the spot. I don't care about how my teeth look at this point I just want the problems to be over with. What can I expect to happen after I get my bottom 1st molar extracted?

Thank you so much everyone