Second Upper Molar Extraction

[raosulli]

I am told that it is unlikely periodontal treatment will save my second upper molar in the long term. I am worried- however- about my ability to chew. I have no lower wisdom tooth but still will have the upper wisdom tooth but no mate. I am worried about drifting teeth, supra eruption and just generally throwing things out of alignment. The dentist keeps telling me he thinks I will still be able to eat crunchy things (I am vegetarian and used to a whole food diet) but I'm not sure I will. Maybe it's worth it for me to try to keep the upper second molar and just do the deep pocket cleaning? Any advice?

 

[Gordon]

You won't notice the loss of a 2nd molar. Super eruption isn't an issue with an upper molar, it's usually uppers coming down, not lowers coming up
Drifting is only going to happen by the 3rd molar coming forward into the space, which isn't a bad thing.
Keeping it going but cleaning out the pocket will buy you a bit of time, it's not a long term treatment. If you don't mind the expense/inconvenience of doing it frequently, then go for it.

 

[raosulli]

Thanks! I posted another question about this. I'm so worried about this second molar. I wish it had never got damaged to begin with..

 

[dentalnelly]

If it helps, I had the opposite. I had my lower second molar removed, wizzie still there. Up top I have second molar and I just had the upper wizzie removed today.

My wisdom tooth moved into the gap behind my 1st molar and it mostly stopped the upper from supraerupting. It still did but it's a much smaller amount than if the wizzie wasn't there. The way it ended up then is because my wizzie didn't have a mate it started to cause issues and I had it yoinked.

I've ate on that side for the last 10 years with no issue.