I’ve had two teeth extracted: #3 (“6 year molar”, upper right) and #14 (“6 year molar”, upper left).
Dentists will strongly urge you to do everything to save the tooth. The reasons being:
- You truly can’t chew quite as well with a missing tooth,
- Losing the tooth allows nearby teeth to shift somewhat, and
- Profit! (well, I’m sure for most, that’s not the primary consideration, but surely it’s a factor).
My tl/dr tale of attempting to save a tooth at all co$t$:
For #3, it had so many fillings, and hurt when I bit on it, that the dentist suggested crown and/or root canal, with crown being the first choice. Crown didn’t work. Root canal (which was horrific in and of itself) made it worse. Nobody argued extraction after that. Note that my primary dentist made no money from the root canal, as he sent me to an endodontist.
For #14, the dentist (different - long story as to the need for a switch) said right up front she wasn’t certain it could be saved, but she recommended doing the root canal and crown as the best chance.
It never really settled down. The endodontist wanted to repeat it, for more money, but I lived with it for a couple years. He did say “avoid doing any apical work, it won’t likely help” (something involving going to the tip of the root through the gum).
The dentist pushed me to see a different endodontist after a couple years because the pain was getting worse; when it flared to the point of needing painkillers and antibiotics, I caved and went. THAT guy started the repeat root canal, said “that won’t help, need to go through the gums” and unfortunately I let him talk me into it.
When, 2 months later, the pain was as bad as ever, he looked at the X-rays and pronounced everything was perfect and it would be fine. I actually snarled at him “I do NOT trust you”. He did actually say “and what if you have it removed and you are STILL having pain???” because, well, there was no reason for me to be feeling pain so clearly that tooth wasn’t at fault.
Anyway - it largely settled down for a bit, but flared up again last summer.
The dentist STILL tried to argue me into seeing the endodontist. I flat out told her “I have had two and a half root canals on that tooth. I am NOT going to waste any more time or money trying to save it”. I stood firm, and she finally referred me to the oral surgeon for an extraction and possible implant.
That process was just finished last week, actually - the crown was made and installed.
And guess what: I still have some pain when I chew. Egad. Also the installation caused the crown on the tooth behind it to fail - I thought it felt like it was pressing on the tooth when they were fitting it, but the pressure seemed to ease once they fastened it in. Then the other tooth’s crown popped off 3 days later. They even confirmed that was likely the cause. I assume the pressure easing was because of the cement being loosened.
As a side note: When a dentist taps on a tooth and it hurts like hell, WTF is with continuing to whack that tooth??? Is it gonna magically stop hurting or something??? I smacked her hand away when she continued that.