I am not having great confidence in this new dentist I saw. I was having tooth pain. I’m new to the area and had to see a discount clinic. I’ve heard they see people quicker. I think I know why. First, it was more like a cattle station than a medical clinic. Second, I’m not sure how much I trust them. Here’s the deal. When he examined my tooth, he did an x-ray and determined a tooth which already had a filling had an infection. He told me only about 10% of the tooth was healthy. Once he got in there, he’d probably need to extract the tooth and then we’d work out a dental implant procedure. Something doesn’t sit right with me about this. I scheduled the follow-up appointment, but I think I need to get a second opinion first. Am I overreacting?
Elaine
Dear Elaine,
Dental Infections are Serious
The first thing I want you to do is call the dentist you saw and ask him to prescribe an antibiotic for you. Dental infections are serious and you don’t want it to spread while you get your second opinion. And, yes, I definitely think you need a second opinion.
If the tooth were as far gone as he indicated, you would have been in pain for a while. You didn’t seem to indicate that. Secondly, a tooth in the condition he described would not require an x-ray to see the decay and infection. In fact, the filling would have fallen out by now. Something hinky is going on here.
Don’t put off the second opinion, though. I mentioned earlier that dental infections are serious. While the antibiotic will hold it at bay temporarily, it won’t get rid of it. That is typically done with a root canal treatment.
A Word about Getting a Second Opinion
You want to make sure, when getting a second opinion that it is a blind opinion. Don’t tell them who the dentist was or what their diagnosis was. Let them examine you and give their unbiased opinion first. After that, feel free to tell them what the current doc said.
If what your first dentist said was true, which I doubt, his suggestion about replacing the tooth with a dental implant was solid. It is the best tooth replacement option out there. Though, I suspect you are not going to have to worry about that.
This blog is brought to you by Auburn Family Dentist Dr. Raymond Bolt.