A Dental Question

M

maplebeez

Member
I was having off & on tooth discomfort & had it checked out by my dentist. He told me the tooth was cracked & needed to be removed by an oral surgeon. Went to an oral surgeon who said there's a small micro-crack in that tooth & to leave it alone, unless it becomes extremely painful. Because of this cracked tooth, My regular tooth cleaning was cancelled & my dentist won't reschedule me, until the tooth has been removed. This is a real dental Catch 22. Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated.
 

I don't understand why your dentist would refuse to schedule a cleaning....just because of a cracked tooth. I bit down on something hard last year, and cracked a front tooth...and my dentist was able to patch it up well enough that it's still holding up, and the pain went away after a couple of weeks. I've had a couple of cleanings since, and no further issues. If it's just a hairline crack, cleaning should not be any more of a problem than regular toothbrushing.
 
I would ask the oral surgeon's office to send an email to your dentist with his professional opinion to leave the tooth alone and just keep an eye on it.
 

My dentist is concerned all that scraping & scaling done during a cleaning, could cause part of that cracked tooth to break off, requiring me to have an emergency extraction. He showed me pictures & it doesn't look pretty.
 
I agree that it could be repaired in some way, don't understand why the dentist would insist on it being pulled. Maplebeez, exactly how bad is it cracked, gum line to bottom of tooth? Have you had this dentist for a long time? Did you bring up the possibility of a crown like others suggested here? If it's just a micro-crack as you mentioned, I don't know why they can't take extra precautions during the cleaning, and not have it be a big issue.
 
maplebeez said:
I was having off & on tooth discomfort & had it checked out by my dentist. He told me the tooth was cracked & needed to be removed by an oral surgeon. Went to an oral surgeon who said there's a small micro-crack in that tooth & to leave it alone, unless it becomes extremely painful. Because of this cracked tooth, My regular tooth cleaning was cancelled & my dentist won't reschedule me, until the tooth has been removed. This is a real dental Catch 22. Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated.
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My advice is to get another Dentist who is reasonable! :)
 
Time to get a new dentist, I'd say.

I have a second molar that's "cracking". I asked how long I had on it. He said, "Two weeks, ten years....hard to tell" but he never told me that I couldn't get it cleaned.

Maybe your dentist is just trying to "cover his ass", just in case it shatters while it's being cleaned.
 
jujube said:
Time to get a new dentist, I'd say.

I have a second molar that's "cracking". I asked how long I had on it. He said, "Two weeks, ten years....hard to tell" but he never told me that I couldn't get it cleaned.

Maybe your dentist is just trying to "cover his ass", just in case it shatters while it's being cleaned.
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Agreed. And I'd also look for a new dentist.
 
neotheone said:
I would think the dentist would suggest putting a crown on that tooth, rather than pulling it.
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That is what my dentist is doing... of course he will be well paid for it. I went to a new dentist about a year ago because I didn't feel too confident with the dentist I was using. He is expensive but he seems to be really good. He did the usual stuff but he also took photos that show everything that is going on above the gum line. These photos are incredible and show details that I doubt a dentist could observe with the traditional checkups I've had where they use a little mirror and magnifying glasses with an attached light. He loads the photos in his computer and you can see them on various high definition monitors he has (on the wall and ceiling). The images are crystal clear, well lite, and magnified such that they show details that you would have to see to believe. He can highlight areas to show you exactly what he is concerned with... like I said it is amazing too me.
 
maplebeez said:
I was having off & on tooth discomfort & had it checked out by my dentist. He told me the tooth was cracked & needed to be removed by an oral surgeon. Went to an oral surgeon who said there's a small micro-crack in that tooth & to leave it alone, unless it becomes extremely painful. Because of this cracked tooth, My regular tooth cleaning was cancelled & my dentist won't reschedule me, until the tooth has been removed. This is a real dental Catch 22. Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated.
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The catch is a small crack can become a larger crack. And it could also start to cause tooth sensitivity. Seems to me he should put a cap on it.
 

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