Should I Switch to an Oral Surgeon for My Extraction?
Question submitted by Charlie:
I’ll be honest up front that I have problems with going to the dentist. That led to me putting off a tooth which was bothering me. When the pain became more than I could bear, I went to a dentist who did a root canal treatment. I will admit that I did not go back to get the cap placed and the dentist never followed up so I counted that as me being good to go. Unfortunately, the tooth became more infected and I again put it off until I couldn’t. This time I ended up at an emergency dentist. He gave me something for the pain and told me that I need to have the tooth extracted, but warned me it would be invasive. He gave me the choice of having it done by him with a local or he could refer me to an oral surgeon under anesthesia. I’m really tempted to do the anesthesia but it will be very expensive. Is there a middle ground?
Charlie
Dear Charlie,
I’m very glad you wrote. I feel like your dentist left you in a bit of a quandry. You don’t have to do this with an oral surgeon, but I’m also not convinced the he is the right dentist to do your extraction, for a couple of reasons. First, is he suggesting the oral surgeon because he feels uncomfortable with the invasive level of the extraction? You may want to ask him how many of these type of extractions he’s done. Then, you can have a better idea whether or not he’s got enough experience for you.
Second, when a patient has dental anxiety the way you’ve described, a local isn’t all you should be given. I would make sure that whatever dentist does your tooth extraction offers dental sedation. For you, I’d recommend either oral conscious sedation or I.V. sedation.
You will find that by using dental sedation, you can completely get caught up with your dental care in an anxiety-free/pain-free way. This will allow you to get the regular oral health care you need. As a side benefit, you’ll save a lot of money because dealing with a cavity is much cheaper than both a root canal treatment and an extraction.
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