UPDATE: This post seems quite popular among the search engines. In that case, let me provide links to a description of my actual procedure and then post-op photos of the extracted tooth.

I'm getting back-most upper right tooth extracted tomorrow. It's the same tooth that I've had first and only root canal on. There are some pretty good reasons to get it removed. First, the tooth is kinda dead and it's turning more gray than white now. Second and probably most important, there's a huge periodontal pocket behind it which is very prone to infection. Anytime a bit of food gets stuck in there, it's not good times.

I'm not worried about the removal itself. I had three wisdom teeth removed when I was just out of high school. There were below the surface of the gums and they had to be cracked while still in the gum to faciliate removal. All of this happened under local freezing. I suffered absolutely no swelling at all and I actually played basketball the same evening. I thought that getting your wisdom teeth out was that easy for everybody. I didn't realize until later that most people get chipmunk cheeks and can be out of commission for a while.

Anyways, I'm hoping I just react very well to getting my teeth taken out. My only concern is that now that I have a tooth missing, the tooth next to it won't have structural support when chewing forces are applied to it. If it can't support the forces, there could be buckling or bending and that'll lead to a whole new set of problems.

I can get an artificial tooth put in but that costs $3000 and I've been warned most dental plans don't cover any of this. $3K for a tooth that no one sees. I'm still deciding whether or not to get the fake tooth.

I'll update everyone tomorrow.

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