Hi Steve,

Well how about that.... the Endodontist and I agree on something...!!

Regarding the replacement of this rc tooth....

1) Dental implant means no cutting down of the adjacent teeth as this would be a single implant with crown. However, the jaw bone above (and possibly around) this tooth is going to be more compromised than it appears on the xray. Implants, placed anywhere in the body, are intended to be implanted in healthy vital bone. Anything less than health and viable elevates the risk of infection and failure pertaining to the implant. So if you were to consider having the implant, it is imperative that you see an oral surgeon for the removal of this tooth and state very clearly that you want him to remove the tooth and periodontal ligament in their entirety as well as all diseased tissue and bone. These procedures are suppose to be done with every tooth extraction but unfortunately (and for no logical reason) they are not. It behooves the patient to never assume that the surgery will be as thorough as it should be and to make the dentist aware that you expect this to be done. Not in an aggressive manner, but in an informative way. Also, most of the time a bone graft will be placed in the bony socket after the extraction of the tooth. Again, this is done routinely and sometimes it's actually better to wait a couple of weeks to put it in. Each case is different. If the site is still infected or there is suspicion of microscopic infection, then the graft could easily become infected. So ideally the site needs to be healthy enough to receive the graft. Again this is information that you should discuss with the oral surgeon so he knows that you want to be cautious about enduring unnecessary post operative complications.

2) A permanent bridge can replace one single tooth. There are several different types of permanent bridges and each one is applicable to each individual case. A multi unit permanent bridge means cutting down at least each adjacent to the extracted one as they would be the anchor teeth holding the fake tooth in the middle. Root canaled or infected teeth are not wise anchor teeth as they are already compromised and the bridge will not have any healthy longevity to it. A maryland bridge or inlay bridge replaces one tooth without severely cutting down the adjacent teeth. However, the adjacent teeth need to be healthy to hold this type of bridge also. Ask you dentist for all of the options available in your particular case.

I don't know what you meant by "individual false teeth are not done in this country".

Bryanna