Don, thanks, this does help. At age 47, this is the first
tooth I ever had extracted. Both my dentist and the oral
surgeon-DDS I have been seeing about this tooth say my other
teeth are in very good shape, so an implant is a good option
for me, money allowing. (And I do have the money.)

The tooth was extracted in February. I saw the oral surgeon
yesterday to check on the extraction site and in preparation
for a possible implant. I thought he might want to start/do
the implant and so I had to make a decision pronto. But he
showed me the x-ray and said we should wait a few more
months for the gap to 'harden up.' It's coming along nicely,
he said, and explained what he was looking for (levelness
and hardness and health). I return in early August.

An acquaintance was saying it's not essential to replace the
tooth, and so I wanted to investigate a bit more. From
reading and talking to my dental doctors, and as you say, I
thought drift was a concern. The oral surgeon said if I were
say 78 years old he could see not doing an implant, since my
life expectancy would not be high, and the drift would not
become serious for maybe a decade or more. Or if my other
teeth were falling out and we were looking at some massive
dental reconstruction, further risk of infection etc., an
implant could not really be justified.

Knowing my mouth, I figure the one other tooth I had root
canalled and crowned several years ago may not last. It's
right above the extracted tooth site. But otherwise, things
look good for the next several years (knock on wood... uh
enamel!).

I will say my sense is that having this other, lower molar
just plain extracted in February (following root canal about
2000 and then an apicoectomy--never again--last June) has
improved my health. My mouth has never felt better.

I appreciate your input, granted from afar and without
seeing my mouth, so we can speak only in generalities and
with qualifiers here. Thanks for helping educate the
community and me. I think these exchanges (even when people
all do not agree) 'grease the skids' for better
communications between doctors and patients and so tends to
keep everyone happier.

(Amatus, so this is the situation as best as can be conveyed
from afar.)