Hi Alex,

I have not personally had this type of dental treatment. However, I have worked with 100's of patients who have. So I can offer you my thoughts from that perspective....

The 4 upper front teeth are susceptible to fracture because that bone is more fragile (thinner) than it is in other places in the mouth. Any tooth that has a root fracture is not salvagable, not even temporarily with a root canal procedure. There is no way to patch up, close up or correct the fracture. It's not like other bones in the body that if not displaced will generally heal on their own. The fact that you continue to have radiographic pathology (infection) and pain indicates the tooth is probably fractured. Root fractures are hard to detect on a typical xray but if the xray is angled differently sometimes that can pick it up. Other times it is not seen until the tooth is removed.

The antibiotic is only subsiding the symptoms temporarily. So that is only a very brief course of treatment and it is best to have the tooth removed while taking the antibiotics. The other tooth could be hurting for any number of reasons. Some of them could be...... that tooth may also be injured from whatever it was that caused this tooth to be fractured..... the infection from this tooth could have spread to that other tooth..... or there is pressure in the surrounding bone from the bacteria in the fractured tooth which would cause additional pain/tenderness in the surrounding teeth. An xray should be able to diagnose the health of the other tooth.

The dental appliance referred to as a flipper is generally quite small and holds only that one missing tooth. Yes, it can be a bit challenging to wear and to eat with. But the purpose of the flipper is to prevent the other teeth from moving into that space and to give the patient a natural looking smile during the healing phase. This appliance may also be adjusted to wear during the healing phase of the dental implant.

It is ideal to have the infected tooth removed as soon as possible to prevent the spread of infection. The idea is to maintain as much healthy bone as possible for the placement and integration of the dental implant.

I know this is scary and the thought of this happening in the front of your mouth is bearly unthinkable! Every patient I have worked with who has had this done feels exactly the same way. However without any doubt, the patients that experience the least post operative discomfort from the extraction and end up with the best overall outcome of the implant and implant crown are those who have had the least infection.

Have you had impressions made for the flipper yet?

Bryanna