Hi Mikeulf,

How refreshing to see that someone so young has done their own research on root canals and understands the systemic consequences with keeping a sick, dead tooth in their mouth!! You are so far better off to deal with this problem at your age than you would be if you waited as the bacteria will only spread to adjacent teeth causing further damage. Thank you for coming here and sharing your personal story and insights with us!!!

I will re-post some of your questions and answer the in bold type.

<<I went to the dentist and they said this root canal, which is on tooth 30, was failing and had an infection. The x-ray showed it had a black mark around the root of the tooth to which my knowledge means the bacteria and thus infection has migrated to the jawbone and is becoming systemic. >>

ROOT CANALED TEETH DO NOT FAIL... THEY ARE CHRONICALLY INFECTED AND INFLAMED. THE RADIO-GRAPHIC BLACK MARK AROUND THE TOOTH, SOME REFER TO THIS AS A CIRCLE, INDICATES PROLIFERATION OF THE INFECTION.... JUST AS YOU STATED.

<<<Who and where do I go in order to set up the soonest possible arrangement to have my tooth extracted, and more importantly have the practitioner agree with me that they are willing to extract it. I'm sick of hearing this "save the tooth" BS. How about save my health instead and pull the damn tooth??? >>>

YOU WOULD SEE AN ORAL SURGEON FOR THE EXTRACTION OF THIS TOOTH. OR YOU COULD SEE A BIOLOGICAL DENTIST WHO IS SPECIFICALLY TRAINED TO PERFORM ORAL SURGERY AND ONE WHO PERFORMS IT ON A DAILY BASIS. YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK ON THE IAOMT.ORG WEBSITE TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY BIOLOGICAL DENTISTS LISTED IN YOUR AREA. IF SO, THEN CALL THEIR OFFICE AND SPECIFICALLY SAY WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. IF THE OFFICE SEEMS VAGUE ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, GO ON TO THE NEXT ONE.

IRRELEVANT OF WHICH OF THESE DENTISTS YOU DECIDE TO GO TO, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU MAKE THESE THINGS VERY CLEAR TO HIM....

**YOU HAVE NO INTENTIONS OF KEEPING THIS TOOTH AND THAT YOU WANT IT REMOVED.
**YOU WANT THE DENTIST TO REMOVE THE TOOTH IN IT'S ENTIRETY... THOROUGHLY DEBRIDE THE BONE OF THE PERIODONTAL LIGAMENT AND ALL NECROTIC TISSUE AND BONE.
**ONLY PLACE A BONE GRAFT AT THE TIME OF THE EXTRACTION IF THE REMAINING BONE IS HEALTHY AND NOT DISEASED.

SOME DENTISTS WILL TAKE OFFENSE TO BEING TOLD THIS WHILE OTHERS WILL COMMEND YOU ON BEING SO KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THIS SUBJECT. DON'T LET ANYONE'S DEMEANOR GET IN THE WAY OF EXPRESSING WHAT YOU WANT.

If you send me a personal message with a general idea of where you would be looking for an oral surgeon or biological dentist.... I can take a look too and see what information I can gather from their websites, etc.