Hi Vowel Lady,
If I had a nickel for every time I've heard a dentist say those words to a patients.... I would be a millionaire! The irony of what you said about dentists being trained to avoid confrontation or admittance to wrong doing..... is not all that far from reality. In general the dental profession has always been and continues to be deliberately evasive about informing their patients about lots of issues and their staff is expected to be the same way. I have learned to work only for those who appreciate the value of having their patients well informed. But that's a whole other story.......
If your new dentist is conventional minded, he will tell you root canaled teeth are fine and not to be concerned. Remember... that is what he is trained to do. If you see a biological dentist he may be more inclined to open up about the topic of root canals. However, all dentists need to be careful of how they approach this subject because to speak out differently than you are expected to, can get you into a lot of hot water and with no one to back you up.
Here are some questions you can present to your dentist:
1) How can it be healthy to keep a non vital tooth in my mouth when it wouldn't be healthy to keep a dead organ in my body?
2) Doesn't the tooth need vitality to not become infected?
3) I have read in several places that there are hundreds of microscopic canals in every tooth that contain nerve tissue. What happens to those nerves when the tooth is root canaled if that tissue cannot be removed?
4) If that nerve tissue just dies off, then wouldn't it cause inflammation and infection?
5) If the tooth is not alive and it contains dead nerve tissue, doesn't that create a unfavorable bacteria that can spread to the bone since the bone is alive? If so, then what happens to the bone? Is it replaceable?
6) Does a root canal actually "cure" the infection in the tooth? Or does the rc just subside the bacteria for a uncertain amount of time allowing the person to "retain" the tooth for that length of time?
7) Can an infected tooth, like a root canaled tooth, eventually have a negative affect with the immune system and be a contributing factor to a systemic illness?
8) Can the bacteria from an infected tooth migrate to the sinuses or the brain?
Those are a few of the questions you can present to your dentist.
Yes, the tooth in front of 31 is #30. It would leave you with a large opening if both teeth were missing. Having that large open area could cause the upper teeth on that side to move downward as they would have nothing to occlude against to prevent them from moving. So it would not be ideal to leave that large opening.. open.
NICO is a type of cavitation. There are various degrees of cavitations that can occur in the bone. There are also a variety of bacterias that are associated with them as well.
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vowel Lady
I have heard many times the following expression coming out of the mouth's of their dentists relayed to me by people suffering from various horrible dental and /or nerve injuries : "I have never seen anything like this before!" I'm beginning to believe dentists are given a seminar and told that when "it" hits the fan to tell the patient this line so the patient thinks the Dr. Did everything correctly and they are just a one in a ten million freak situation.
Although I might be wasting my breath, I'm going to ask AGAIN for my new dentist to look at my rc tooth next to the removed 31 and I'm going to try to get him to speak with me privately about rc teeth.
It's in front of 31. I forgot...is this 30 ? It still looks like hexx. It was evaluated by a dentist and that alone left me with three weeks of serious extra pain. Honestly, I don't think this tooth is the cause of my nerve problem. However, I'm not in love with having it around. *****important Would the removal of this tooth likely cause a noticeable gap in my smile?
Bryana, what is NICO? Is this the same as a cavitation?
Thank you.
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