Wisdom tooth extraction vs. crown?

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Foo - 12 Dec 2006 10:46 GMT

Male, aged 56.

Fracture in lower wisdom tooth. Dentist says filling will no
longer work -- it has several -- and needs crown. At the
moment, no acute problems with tooth.

Alternative 1. Crown. I was quoted $1,500 in Los Angeles for
it. Cons: expensive. Wisdom tooth remains in. Problems
with it some day? Pro: no surgical problems and risks.

Alternative 2. Remove wisdom tooth. Pros: Lower cost? No
longer have to worry about problems with wisdom tooth.

Question: Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?

Question: If I remove the lower wisdom tooth, do I have to
remove also the upper one?

Question: I have heard that alternative 2 through dental school
would be significantly cheaper than alternative 1 because 2 is
basically labor through the school whereas 1 requires dental lab
work that costs the same through a school or a private dentist.
Is this true?

Question: I have heard that tooth removals, because they are
done and over with, are good to do through dental schools
because they don't involve long waits and multiple visits. Is
that true?

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dentaltwin@earthlink.net - 12 Dec 2006 13:01 GMT

Answers within text:

> Male, aged 56.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> it. Cons: expensive. Wisdom tooth remains in. Problems
> with it some day? Pro: no surgical problems and risks.

Seems a bit high, depending on area. Maybe time to raise my fees.

> Alternative 2. Remove wisdom tooth. Pros: Lower cost? No
> longer have to worry about problems with wisdom tooth.
>
> Question: Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?

This requires an assessment of the individual situation. But
generally, if the first and second molars are in decent shape, I'm less
likely to do a lot of dentistry to save a third molar.

> Question: If I remove the lower wisdom tooth, do I have to
> remove also the upper one?

Sometimes if the upper is not removed, the upper will drift down since
it is now unopposed until it hits the lower gum, and then must be
removed. Honestly, in people your age it frequently (though not
always) doesn't move at all. If you wish to avoid the extraction of
the upper tooth, just have it checked periodically. It can always be
removed later.

> Question: I have heard that alternative 2 through dental school
> would be significantly cheaper than alternative 1 because 2 is
> basically labor through the school whereas 1 requires dental lab
> work that costs the same through a school or a private dentist.
> Is this true?

Dental schools have their own labs. Crowns should be cheaper there
too.

> Question: I have heard that tooth removals, because they are
> done and over with, are good to do through dental schools
> because they don't involve long waits and multiple visits. Is
> that true?

Depends on how the clinic is administered.

Steve

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Bill - 12 Dec 2006 18:37 GMT

> Male, aged 56.
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> because they don't involve long waits and multiple visits. Is
> that true?

______________________

Often wisdom teeth are simply removed if they present difficult
restorative problems. A dentist should be able to examine you and
determine whether this wisdom tooth is really needed for function.

Even in Los Angeles, it is possible to get crowns for far less than
$1500! There should be many dentists who charge LESS than $950 for a
crown.

And a dental school would have costs even lower still. There are two
good dental schools in Los Angeles, at UCLA and at USC.

Best regards,
- dentaldoc

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Le Huart - 14 Dec 2006 02:31 GMT

Be sure to have all your wisdom teeth removed before age 25 (rule of
thumb). In 27 years of examining patients, I can probably count on my
hand, and still have 3 digits left, the number of wisdom teeth that
weren't either malposed or had a profound lack of attached gingiva. The
oral surgeons do like the business that these teeth provide, but I
assure you any periodontist will recommend extraction for the long term
prevention of disease on the adjacent second molar. Whenever I see an
alloy or even sometimes a crown on a third molar, I cringe and only have
poor regard for the ethics of the dentist who placed it (unless
someone twisted his arm like a senior dental officer in the Army made me
do an MODFL on #1 in 1985 because he was too much of a coward to have it
easily rotated out. I wonder about this tooth to this day). Get it out.
The risk is low. You'll be rid of an extraneous part of your body, that
only causes problems.

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Newbie - 15 Dec 2006 16:01 GMT

> In 27 years of examining patients, I can probably count on my
>hand, and still have 3 digits left, the number of wisdom teeth that
>weren't either malposed or had a profound lack of attached gingiva.

Must be a really slow practice.

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