Quote:
Originally posted by crewsor
I had to have a lower molar pulled, last one back on the bottom. My dentist wants to do an implant, they cost tons and insurance won't cover it. You think its necessary? She says the top one may drift because of no pressure from below. Its not bothering me now.
PS. I hope youre not my dentist.
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Hey, I remember you, you trouble maker!
You really have 2 choices here. Before suggesting one over the other, I'd need to know how old you are, medical status (smoker/diabetic/anything else?), why the tooth was pulled (do you take care of your mouth?), what the bone looks like in the area of the pulled tooth, and what your bite looks like.
The 2 options are:
1) Implant to replace the pulled tooth.
2) Pull the upper one too
Yup, the upper one will over time come down and it will become a pain in the ass even though it's not bothering you now. The question becomes whether you need that or not at all.
I'm not sure if it was your 1st or 2nd molar that got pulled (from your description, most likely the 2nd). You do not really need your 2nd molars to chew properly so pulling the upper tooth is a decent and cheap option. No, it's not ideal to pull a tooth that doesn't have problems, but better that than letting it slowly drop down.
The implant is also a good option, ESPECIALLY if it was your 1st molar that got yanked. Implants are very successful (~96%) if done properly. Most insurances don't cover it because, well, they're assholes.
If it's my mouth and I don't smoke or have any medical reasons eliminating the implant option, I do the implant. But I completely understand not being able to afford it. Pulling the upper tooth is an acceptable 2nd option.
Hope I didn't ramble too much.