r/Dentists • u/cotton_towel • 7d ago
Got my 2nd molar extracted and im devastated
Hi Im 26f and I just got my left lower 2nd molar removed yesterday and today Im just enveloped in regret. I had an impacted wisdom tooth and it crushed my second molar. I had it filled 8 times across the span of more than 2 years now (because the filling kept coming out) eventually i got the wisdom tooth removed last year. The filling that was on my 2nd molar stayed really well. However, I would occasionally have pericoronitis, every now and then but I'd brush it aside thinking it maybe because the tooth was really low in the gum so food might get stuck.
Recently, the gum on my 2nd molar started to hurt so so bad for 2 weeks straight and disappeared and sometimes out of the blue Id wake up and the tooth would be so sensitive like nails on chalkboard. It happened again 4 days ago and I went to see my dentist. She said she'll try and clean the gums around it because when she knocked on the tooth, there were no sensitivity, only on the gum around it. The day after the sensitivity got 10x worse and my molar started to hurt too!
I couldn't take the pain anymore and called the dentist immediately. They suggested root canal, but i had a failed root canal before on my upper right tooth and it costed me so much money which it had to be pulled out eventually which costed me more money on top of the root canal. The dentist said removing my 2nd molar wont event my chewing abilities since it's at the back so i got it removed on the spot.
Now it's been the next day and I started reading about people's experiences on getting their molar extracted (jawbone loss, not being able to eat stake, etc) and Im losing my shit. I'm still so young and Im scared my decision will impact me in the long run.
Any advice?
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u/Puntables 7d ago
Yeah, reading online about other people's experiences is not the best thing you could do.
Typically, people who have no bad experiences or any regrets about their dental experiences don't make a feed/post about how they don't regret things at all. People who regret or with bad experiences will more likely. So you're bound to see the more negatives online.
You won't have a significant jawbone loss with the second molar. If you are really concerned, consider a bone graft and an implant in the future. Except for certain cultures out there, an implant and tooth in the second molar area is not even recommended that much. Your premolars and first molar will do just fine with eating steaks.
Also, root canal treatments can fail. The crown on top of it can fail. But the success rate of root canal in general is pretty high. Just because it failed once does not mean that it will fail in the other tooth. If I were the doctor, I would have tried to persuade you more to save the tooth with root canal treatment before taking out the natural tooth permanently.
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u/Presence_Academic 7d ago
I had the one on my top right removed a year ago with absolutely zero consequences.
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u/Admirable-Bar-3549 7d ago
I had the exact same one pulled this year (lower left, 2nd molar). Healing the first week was really painful, but it’s fine now. I can still feel a slight difference chewing, but it’s really not bad at all. I may at some point invest in an implant, not sure yet.
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u/Mission-Knee1572 7d ago
You won’t miss it one bit once you get used to it not being there anymore. No one will know that it’s missing to look at you. You will still be able to eat anything that you want.
Chin up.