I saw the second Dentist earlier today and here is the rub...
He used what I thought was dry ice (?) and checked a number of the teeth for sensitivity. The suspect tooth (large molar) had no sensitivity and it was another tooth with cracks in the filling that was most sensitive. He also reviewed the x-ray that I provided him. Based on his investigation and reviewing the x-ray, he believes that the root is dead. He is not 100% sure and is willing to take the top off the tooth to make a final judgement, but he said that in his opinion the root is dead and something needs to be done. According to the Dentist, the ache I am suffering is the infection (which the antibiotics did not fix) and the soreness with biting down is the pressure on the abscess.
I am against root canals and strangely enough, the Dentist did not put up an argument when I said no to a root canal. My previous Dentist advised there were issues with root canals, so maybe the research is coming full circle now? At this stage, I have booked myself in for him to take the top off the tooth and if there is any signs of the root being partially alive, he is willing to help me try and get it to heal naturally. If the root is dead and totally dead, then he will extract the tooth. It is a big molar and will leave quite the space, but I see no other option. Long term, I am thinking that I will have a bridge installed with a fake tooth fitted to the bridge. I am not going the implant route either.
I really hope this is the right way to go in all of this. It seems that Dentistry is still going through research and a lot of people do not know enough about it. I posted some links above and nobody seemed to comment, so I am out of time now on this. The one thing that the Dentist did say was that if the root is dead, then there is no chance of ever healing the tooth, ever.
He used what I thought was dry ice (?) and checked a number of the teeth for sensitivity. The suspect tooth (large molar) had no sensitivity and it was another tooth with cracks in the filling that was most sensitive. He also reviewed the x-ray that I provided him. Based on his investigation and reviewing the x-ray, he believes that the root is dead. He is not 100% sure and is willing to take the top off the tooth to make a final judgement, but he said that in his opinion the root is dead and something needs to be done. According to the Dentist, the ache I am suffering is the infection (which the antibiotics did not fix) and the soreness with biting down is the pressure on the abscess.
I am against root canals and strangely enough, the Dentist did not put up an argument when I said no to a root canal. My previous Dentist advised there were issues with root canals, so maybe the research is coming full circle now? At this stage, I have booked myself in for him to take the top off the tooth and if there is any signs of the root being partially alive, he is willing to help me try and get it to heal naturally. If the root is dead and totally dead, then he will extract the tooth. It is a big molar and will leave quite the space, but I see no other option. Long term, I am thinking that I will have a bridge installed with a fake tooth fitted to the bridge. I am not going the implant route either.
I really hope this is the right way to go in all of this. It seems that Dentistry is still going through research and a lot of people do not know enough about it. I posted some links above and nobody seemed to comment, so I am out of time now on this. The one thing that the Dentist did say was that if the root is dead, then there is no chance of ever healing the tooth, ever.