Yesterday I had a tooth extracted for the first time in my life - it was due to an infection and the tooth had already been filled twice. It is the only tooth I've ever had problems with - all my other teeth are reasonably healthy (if a little discoloured at the very bottom) and I never had any wisdom teeth erupt above the gumline.
Even though I've had problems with this tooth on and off since I cracked it in 2015, having to have it removed came as quite a shock to me - I was hoping the dentist would be able to refill it again. It was all very sudden - when I went to my follow-up appointment yesterday after taking antibiotics for 5 days (which had very little effect), the dentist said that in order to get rid of the infection/abscess, I'd need to have the tooth removed, and that he could do it there and then. So I didn't really have any time to process it.
The physical healing seems to be going well so far. It's a molar at the back, so people won't notice it's gone. But emotionally, I feel a sense of loss - I'm only 35 so losing a tooth feels like a big thing to me. I used to think this was something that only really happened to elderly people!
So it's brought back some of my previous anxiety about the ageing process and getting older in general. I'm getting thoughts like: "Now I've had a tooth removed, does that officially mean I'm old?" and "At the age of 35, does it mean my body is past its best and it's all downhill from now?" Sometimes I still find it hard to accept that it's happened, eg "will I wake up and find it's all a terrible dream and my teeth are still intact?"
On a more practical note, I'm wondering if I should get the tooth replaced (either by a bridge or an implant), or should I just live with the gap? My parents and even one of my best friends have had a tooth removed, but they haven't had theirs replaced. I asked my dentist yesterday what would happen about the gap, and he said it would probably close most of the way by itself. But my friend says her gap hasn't closed (she lost the 2nd bottom molar on the left, whereas I lost the second bottom molar on the right).
I've also seen pages online saying that if you don't get the tooth replaced, the other nearby teeth might go crooked or your jaw/face might go out of shape - is that true? Also, will I ever be able to chew on the right-hand side of my mouth again if I don't get the tooth replaced?
If I do decide to get the tooth replaced, I think that out of bridges and implants, implants would probably be best for me. The main disadvantages are that it would involve having metal put in my gum permanently to hold the implant in place (which seems a bit scary to me), it sounds quite invasive and it's not available on the NHS so it would probably cost about £2000. I'm not sure if it would be worth it? Regarding bridges, I don't like the thought that the 2 neighbouring teeth have to be drilled down in order to make the bridge - it feels like you're damaging 2 healthy teeth in order to replace one lost tooth, and they don't last as long as implants.
Has anyone got any thoughts or advice on this, please (whether on the emotional or the practical side)?
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