Is Root Canal Therepy needed or extraction ?

Recently had pain in my upper molar tooth, been to the dentist,and he said I can either go with Root Canal Therapy, or have it extracted. He said that I will need a crown on it if I I did Root Canal on it, and that would last 20 , longer than a cap, is this true? I already had a large filling in this tooth, thats where it gives me pain, and this new dentist told me if I got the molar tooth out, it would eventually make the bottom tooth have to come out as well and it wouldn't be good for the bottom back tooth, is this true? I thought we don't need our molar teeth? I been getting throbbing pain on and off there, so he feels I might need a root canal . Of course root canal and crown is near $20000, expensive. II don't know if he is just B.S.ing me or what, since I am a new patient. He says if I am feeling pain, that means the tooth might be already dying, so if it's dying how would a root vanal help, then wouldn't I have to pull out anyway down the road?

Is Root Canal Therepy needed or extraction ?
I think you mean $2000 for the root canal and crown, and this is about standard.





Root canal is designed to save a tooth where the nerve is already compromised. The dentist will kill off the nerve and then drill out all the rotten tooth material and replace it with a filling. Then, in order to have a normal sized crown, he will file off the outer layer of tooth to allow the crown with it's adhesive paste, to fit. The crown should be long enough to fit under the edge of the gum line, to prevent food from accumulating around the edge of it. This ends up being very strong, and should last for a good many years.





http://www.animated-teeth.com/root_canal...





An alternative is extraction, and then replacement with a permanent artificial tooth (called dental implants). Depending on the dentist, this route would cost around about the same amount for a single tooth as a root canal. And this prevents the shifting of teeth into the available free space.





http://dental-implants.com/cms/frequentl...





And yes, this does happen slowly over a span of years, and ends up weakening the whole of the bite.
Reply:$20,000? Now I know going to a dentist is pricey but that sounds outlandish! I know of someone who had a root canal done and the next year, had to have the tooth removed. My son just went to the dentist the other day because of a tooth (top) in the back in which the filling fell out causing him pain thus casuing some other teeth which were ok to hurt. He had what is called a sedative temporary filling put in, he'll be chcked in 6 weeks, if it looks ok then a permanent filling will be put in. Otherwise, the dentist said he'd have to do a root canal. To me, that's a money thing in their eyes and I won't let my son do it unless he pays for it as my insurance will not cover for all of it. (The nerve ended up being exposed as well thus the pain). I don't know if having the top one out would cause the bottom one to have to come out, I'd get another opinion from another dentist. Crowns are expensive...what do they think? That people are made of money? My bill came to almost $500 for 3 fillings, I'm grateful for insurance as we only had to pay around $80. If you have the $$, go for the canal and crown, otherwise, have it pulled. Good luck!
Reply:1) if a tooth is abcessed, and it sounds like yours is, the only two options are extraction or endodontics, (root canal)


2) it is always best to crown a tooth after a root canal is finished. the tooth is already weakened from the large filling and the root canal weakens the tooth even more.


3) a cap and a crown are the same thing.


4) in our office a molar root canal followed by a crown would be about $1500


5) teeth do, sometimes, shift after the loss of another tooth. the tooth behind will lean forward and the tooth in the opposite arch will over erupt. these are problems that take many years to develope and not something to worry about at this time.


6) so, your only decision is money. do you value the tooth enough to spend 2000 on it or would you rather spend 100 and have a missing tooth?