Finding a surgeon who will remove the periodontal ligament
 

Hello Bryana.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. About 4-5 months ago my husbands tooth began hurting him with no signs of decay. We've decided that this tooth must be cracked and therefore must be removed. (He's a severe night time grinder)

We have an appointment to get his tooth removed by the surgeon our dentist recommends next Friday. I went ahead and asked him to call in to check and make sure they will be removing the periodontal ligament as well as 2mm of bone/tissue so the area heals without fear of cavitation. The receptionist was rude, she kept telling him they would remove the tooth but acted as though she had no idea about the periodontal ligament. I got on the phone and asked if it would be possible for her to ask the surgeon for us or for the surgeon to give us a quick call and she said that wasn't possible and we would have to set up another appointment (and of course pay!!!). I don't really understand why we can't have a yes or no answer or a small explanation of what their procedure will be so we can discuss the removal of bad tissue. My husband has taken off work on a Friday so he will have 3 days to heal before going back to a very physical job and I don't want to waste any time.

We do have a local biological (IAOMT) dentist but we as a family don't see him. Should we go to him to have the tooth extracted instead?

Hi Ahsley,

It is common for the receptionist in a dental office to be uniformed about the procedures that are done in that office. When that is the case, then she should take down your information and have an assistant or the dentist call you back. I'm sorry she did not do that.

The irony is that with EVERY extraction, the periodontal ligament along with any diseased bone is suppose to be removed. There should never be any reason not to do this. However, one should never assume that these things are going to be done... and for good reason!! :/

Has your husband seen a dentist and had an xray of this tooth? That is important because other things could be wrong that are causing the tooth to hurt.

If your husband has seen a dentist to confirm the tooth needs to be removed then my suggestion would be to call the biological dentist, tell them your husband needs a tooth removed and ask if their dentist "routinely" does extractions. If they say yes, ask them if he removes the ligament and scrapes the bone clean with all extractions. If the person is not able to answer your questions to your satisfaction, ask if it's possible to have the dentist call you back. You can also ask that person when they do refer a patient out for an extraction (and most dental offices refer to oral surgeons for at least some extractions) .....what oral surgeon are they comfortable using.

I just want to mention that many dentists are a bit reluctant to extract a tooth on a patient that has not been referred to them and/or evaluated by them. Some will schedule extra time to discuss the tooth and then remove it..... others want two separate appointments. It's not so much the extra dollars they earn... it's that they want to make sure they agree the tooth needs to removed and that the patient wants the tooth removed.

So first is.... has he seen a dentist to confirm there is no other problem with the tooth causing the pain and that a fracture is most likely the cause.
Second, call the biological dentist for the info and/or to schedule a brief consult.

I hope this information is helpful to you. Please keep me posted.
Bryanna