Re: dental extractions--rate of complications..

From: Shad J. Lewis, DMD, MA (shadlewis_at_comcast.net)
Date: 11/17/04 

Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 23:45:45 -0500

Let's put it another way - if you needed heart surgery, will you be thinking
with your pocket book then? Nuff said.

It's always better to pay a little more in the beginning to spare future
problems. Even oral surgeons can't say with complete accuracy that an
extraction will be simple or surgical - what if the crown snaps off and they
have to flap your gums, remove some bone for a gripping point? You can
never tell.

On a side note, being an RN, I'm assuming you have dental insurance (every
RN I know does). Why have you neglected your teeth? The best way to "avoid
getting more entangled...with dental problems in the long run" is to
maintain your periodic checkups - that's when small problems are taken care
of before they come big problems - like now.

Hope all goes well. 

-- 
Shad Lewis
www.WyomissingSmiles.com
"RuthSisler" <ruthsisler@aol.com> wrote in message 
news:20041116223703.22033.00000760@mb-m06.aol.com...
>
> I'm in very good health (In my early 50s), am an RN, know pretty
> well how to take care of myself..but have --apparently--neglected
> my teeth ...have been told by two reputable specialists ("suggested"
> is a better word for it)..that #15 be extracted--just had a root canal
> done, ...but the crown fits poorly, creating a large gap....and little
> bone available..
> will probably not have an implant there...(*18 will need extraction
> eventually).....What is the complication rate on extractions.?  Do I
> need o see an oral surgeon for what I presume to be a simple extraction?
> Browing variious sites on Google, for example, gives me pause: (there's
> things like "cavitations" and such.  I'd rather avoid the costs of a
> oral surgeon...my pocketbook right now is a consideration.
>
>  Yet,  want to avoid getting more entangled...with dental problems
> in the long run.  Please give suggestion, or a site i can read (in terms
> on problems and complications of dental extractions, and whether
> or not extractions generally go quite routinely, given good post-op
> care and good health...
>
> thanks.
>
> Ruth