Apologies to everyone for this second post; still trying to figure out how things work on the site, and yesterday posted this question within another post. This is the first place I have received any answers that make sense to me after nine months of suffering with a root canal on a bottom molar, and I am hoping that an extraction will start the healing process. The question now is: who is most qualified to perform this extraction?

I have appointment later today with a periodontist (my dentist wants my gums checked out before he agrees to extraction) who regularly does extractions as part of his practice. The receptionist explained to me that they take extra care because their goal is to make the area as clean as possible so that they can do an implant. (That's ANOTHER question, actually, do I need to have the implant? Dentist seems to believe teeth will shift without it, or top tooth will grow down, or perhaps both with my luck. But I am not convinced yet.)

Anyway, I have little experience with any of this until now. I had my wisdom teeth removed years ago by an oral surgeon, and I suppose I always thought they were the only people who could/should pull teeth. But it did seem reasonable that someone who is preparing the area for an implant might do just as good a job as an oral surgeon. Opinions?