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Second Molar Extracted, I fear the worst.

P

Paras Jain

Junior member
Joined
Jul 27, 2018
Messages
2
Hi, I am a 49y old female. I have a general fear of invasive procedures, especially involving general anaesthesia. But, I particularly fear dental problems. Not so much the dentists, but having dental issues has always been a cause of immense stress (borderline depression) for me. Bad experiences* in this matter added to this problem.

I understand that the experts here are just helping us out of kindness, so I will be very precise.


I have had (a very healthy but fractured) second molar extracted 3 days ago. It had developed a deep fracture and the costs to save this tooth were around £1500/- according to my current dentist. There are cheaper dentists out here but, I was worried if it would be a good idea to go for them.

This extracted 2nd molar was the last tooth on my top left jaw. It fractured because a 3rd Molar** from underneath had been extracted a few years ago which led to trauma to the tooth in question causing it to eventually fracture.

My concerns :

1. Will the same happen to other adjacent teeth now that they are next in line?
2. What other options available to me apart from a dental implant?
3. Can a dental bridge be fitted only on my First molar to create a tooth like structure in place of the missing one?

Thanks
Paras

*12 years ago, a childhood cavity in my Top Right Second Molar got worse and a root canal was needed. The dentist struggled with killing the root for several days while I kept experiencing excruciating pain to touch, hot, cold etc. She finally gave up and filled the tooth with a substance that was not permanent. The tooth shattered the very night and she extracted it bit by bit, with great difficulty while shaving away my gum. I was then given an option to have a dental bridge between the the three molars. The bridge was crafted very crudely and once fitted my bite did not complete on the opposite side. She had to grind and grind my teeth to get some contact between upper and lower jaws and sent me home with a massive bill. This ill fitting bridge changed my jaw line and made my entire face disproportionate. All the grinding (perhaps) led to new cavities sprouting up across my mouth.

**4-5 years later I developed a problem on 3rd Molar on the Lower Left. But the pain was being referred to the 1st Molar instead that incidentally had a duly filled cavity. Unfortunately, it was the same dentist I was given at my surgery. I went to her complaining pain in my 1st Molar. She looked at the filled cavity and suggested that the cavitied tooth looked healthy and sent me home. At this moment I registered with a different dentist and was told that the problem is with the 3rd Molar that was infected and needed extraction. I asked her if extraction is the only option and was told. "You don't need this tooth, it is a Wisdom tooth and you don't need Wisdom teeth for chewing." I agreed and the tooth (3rd Molar) was extracted.

This led to more jaw changes, I lost more proportion to my face. Also it led to the problem I am sharing above.
 
Last edited:
Hi Paras Jain, I'm by no means an expert, but I suspect the answers to your questions will be along the following lines:

1. Highly unlikely - the reason why 3rd molars (wisdom teeth) can have a detrimental effect on the adjacent second molar is that they often come in at very odd angles. The same isn't true between the first and second molar, so you should have no knock-on effects so to speak

2. Don't do anything (i.e. leave a gap) would be the most common one. Sometimes it's possible to replace a second molar with an implant, but this can be difficult because of limited access. You'd need to get the opinion of a dentist (ideally someone with a special interest in implantology) and ask what they recommend in your particular situation.

3. No

Wishing you a very speedy recovery :grouphug:
 
Thanks Admin,

How kind of you to reply this promptly. Thanks for your advice. I feel slightly better about my situation.

Bless ya
 
I just had a conversation with my oral surgeon about extraction last week. I am in the process of trying to save my upper left 2nd molar, as I had a failed root canal.

I was discussing what could happen if I had to extract it. He does implants as well as extractions, and he said he would not recommend an implant on that tooth as it is the least likely one to cause issues by extracting. It does not impact other teeth, as the bottom molar usually has some overlap with the 1st molar anyway.
 
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