• 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.

Question for or dentists/oral surgeons about extracton

S

Sunny78

Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
38
Hello. I'm new here and have posted elsewhere about my situation. I wanted to ask the dentists and oral surgeons on board here if it's best to have a dentist or an oral surgeon extract a tooth (molar #15, to be exact). The molar is loose; there was a big gap between it and the next tooth for quite some time, but the molar didn't appear to be loose to me. Six weeks ago my dental hygienist told me it was. I went to another dentist (my current dentist had abruptly retired, leaving a novice in charge and I didn't want her for my new dentist; that's another story) for an opinion about the molar. She agreed it could not be saved. Reabsorption has occurred. The dentist I went to seems nice enough; she is not pushy at all. She said she could refer me to an oral surgeon or she could do it. I asked for the referral. He is someone in my plan. I don't know that she really "knows" him, though. I am nervous as hell. The oral surgeon and his office are very closemouthed; if I want reassurances and to be babied about my fears, this is not the place for me. But that doesn't mean he is not a good oral surgeon. I have been exploring my options online, trying to find someone who is going to be sensitive to my fears but who is also good. I had a long chat with a dental-phobia dentist's office; they are out of my plan, are known to be costly, and as I said, he is not a surgeon, just a dentist. So I am back online, searching and searching for the right match for me.

There isn't any swelling; as of six weeks ago there wasn't any inflammation or infection that the dentist could see. Still, I was advised to take care of this sooner rather than later. And by now I can feel it is loose. I am tired of not eating on that side and of worrying about all of it. So I want to get it yanked out. I'm just scared of going to the wrong person.

I am in the U.S.

Thank you.
 
Hello Sunny78

I'm not a dentist, nor anyone with any such qualifications, but from what I have read up on, an oral surgeon is someone who has gone on to do further training and who would deal with the not so every day work that a dentist would do, ie fillings, crowns etc.

I think if I were you, I would be asking the question as to whether or not your dentist feels that the extraction would involve complications, because all dentists will be well trained in the process of extracting a tooth. If you feel comfortable with your current dentist, and not so with the oral surgeon, I would go with your dentist.

I wish you well.

Kim
 
Hi,

If the dentist you saw is an experienced one, I think it should not be a problem let her do it.
I wrote an experienced one because dentists learn over the years their limits, when it is better to send to a specialist and when not.
 
Back
Top