Originally Posted by Bryanna

Hi GrannyLaLa,

I am in the dental field and can offer you some information that your dentists may or may not have shared with you.

Your baby and permanent teeth were compromised from the frequent antibiotics you took as a kid. The permanent teeth are forming during childhood so antibiotics taken during childhood will have a negative affect on them when they come in. They may (or may not) look okay esthetically but the interior of the teeth are usually malformed or compromised in some way. So it is common then for these teeth to have constant problems irrelevant of how many times they are root canaled.

Root canaled teeth are always in a compromised state. It is not possible to remove all of the nerve tissue irrelevant of how well the procedure is done or how many times the tooth is cleaned out. There is no access to the microscopic canals which will continue to harbor dead tissue. This renders the tooth very unhealthy and eventually the surrounding bone. There are also numerous systemic risks associated with retaining unhealthy teeth.

So with that said....and given your medical and dental history.... your dentist may be trying to tell you that it's best to remove the teeth rather than root canal them. In your case since you are missing so many teeth... it may behoove you to remove the teeth that are root canaled as well as those that are in guarded condition and wear partial dentures or discuss with your dentist if you area candidate for dental implants.

If you continue to patch up these teeth and place bridges here and there... you are going to constantly be in the dental chair because there is no longevity in teeth that are root canaled and/or in guarded condition. You will spend more money doing that than you would if you had a more definitive plan that took into consideration the longevity of your dental care.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Bryanna