Originally Posted by Bryanna

Hi Elle,

Thanks for posting today. I was wondering what you had decided to do.

Five hundred extractions a year is quite a bit for a periodontist. However, most of the patients that are seen by a periodontist have gum disease which means they have various degrees of bone loss. So how many of those extractions were clinically difficult? Of course only she would know that answer. The free clinic that she did sounds very impressive..... but to remove 100 teeth in one day means either the teeth were basically falling out on their own, or she did full mouth extractions (multiple teeth on one or more patients) and/or she didn't take much time with each extraction. I'm just playing devil's advocate here...... 100 teeth in one day??

It also sounds impressive that she's only had 2 teeth in 15 yrs where she was unable to remove the root tip. But again, it is never ok to leave a root tip. I have worked for 6 dental practices in 30+ yrs, some mutli doctor offices, only once have a assisted a dr who left a root tip in the jawbone. Several years later this patient came in with a sore gum...... the root tip made it's way to the gumline and was removed. NO residual infection but also no dental implant to contend with.

Even the best dentist can have difficulty with an extraction. There are so many factors to take into consideration and no one is at their best all of the time. My concern with this periodontist is her initial statement to you about not retrieving the root tip and how that would not cause a problem in the future with the implant. As to her skill and technique, she may be awesome... or just as good as someone else. This is the chance we all take when we have a tooth pulled by anyone.

I wish you all the best and truly hope that the surgery goes well! Please do keep us updated!

Bryanna