Expert answers
We know how daunting dental treatment can be. Our Dental Phobia certified experts are here to help ease your mind before treatment by answering your questions.
Should I Get a Crown or Have My Tooth Extracted?
Hi,
I had a root canal done 2 years ago on one of my teeth in the upper right hand side of my mouth.
the next day the front enamel broke off my tooth, since then I have been having problems and I haven’t been able to eat on the right hand side of my mouth since. Lately I have been having a dull ache in the same tooth (I think). I went to my dentist and he told me it was a gum infection and gave me amoxicillin, but the pain is still there, my dentist is now talking about putting a crown on but I don’t want this as it is expensive and it doesn’t guarantee the pain will go away.
I was wondering if you think it would be best just for me to have the tooth extracted? I have a phobia of dentists and I suffer from panic attacks. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards, Sophie.
Hello Sophie. Without seeing an X-ray of the tooth I can’t really give you a definite answer. If the gum infection is because the root canal treatment has failed and the tooth is infected, then it would not be a good idea to crown it until the cause of the infection is dealt with.
Only have a crown done if the dentist tells you the tooth is viable in the long term, or it’s a waste of money, emotional energy and time. Crowning it won’t make the pain go away anyway. So ask him what the outlook would be for a crown and then decide whether you would prefer to have it out. Hope this helps, Jenny.
