If you are living with sensitive teeth or a tooth pain, you know how much it can affect your quality of life. It’s hard to enjoy a great restaurant meal, take care of family, or concentrate on your work if your teeth are bothering you.
Some patients wonder if extracting the tooth and getting a dental implant could help them. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Your dentist needs to do a thorough diagnosis of your unique situation to determine this.
Generally, in a diagnostic exam, a dentist first will tap on several teeth and look for signs of abscess or a radiograph. Establishing a true diagnosis of tooth pain may prevent an unnecessary root canal or extraction of an otherwise healthy tooth.
Although you might assume that severe tooth pain means a root canal is what your dentist will recommend, that isn’t always the case. Root canals are typically done when a dental nerve is dead and the dental nerve space within the tooth, called the root canal system, is infected. Several studies have found that there is no statistical correlation between the level of tooth pain and the amount of nerve damage. The upshot is that pain is not an indicator of the need for a root canal.
Beyond this, other conditions can simulate tooth pain, and these must be addressed to get rid of the pain. These include sinus infections, myofascial pain, neurovascular disorders, neuralgias (a common cause), neuritis (a viral infection of the tooth), neuropathy, and neuromas. Even heart attacks can refer pain to the teeth of the lower jaw.
There are many other “causes” of tooth pain: decay, bite trauma, bruxism (grinding or clenching at night), referred pain, nerve disorders and cracked teeth. These can result in effects such as tooth nerve infection, inflammation and ischemia (a reduction of blood flow to the tooth). All of these will produce pain, even severe pain. But some of them are reversible, provided a timely diagnosis and proper treatment are given.
If your dentist does a diagnosis and determines that the dental nerve in the tooth is, indeed, dead, the dentist must extract the tooth or perform a root canal.
If you and your dentist opt to extract the tooth, you will need to select one of three options to fill the space where the tooth was: (1) a bridge, where your dentist joins together three or more crowns together to “bridge” a missing space; (2) implants made of titanium or zirconium; or (3) removable dentures.
Dental implants are medical devices that are surgically implanted into someone’s jaw to provide support for artificial teeth. Patients will often get them to restore their ability to chew their food or to make sure they look their best.
For a long time, titanium implants, which are made of metal, were the most common type. Today, many patients don’t want metal implants in their mouths for health and esthetic reasons, so ceramic zirconia implants have caught on. These implants have many benefits: they look natural, they’re durable enough to last a lifetime, and they’re hypoallergenic, to name a few.
Curious about whether ceramic dental implants are a good fit for you, as you deal with problematic or sensitive teeth? Just let us know. Your dentist will be happy to talk with you about them at your next appointment.
