Tooth cavity, extraction, and swollen. Please help?

Question

Hi, I have a cavity on the tooth that I went to get cleaned up. The dentist told me that I needed a root canal or either to remove it. The tooth is on the left upper top corner at the back. The dentist put the white filling, but then I still started to have pain a few days later. Yesterday I was sleeping and when I woke up I felt a bump on the gum where that tooth is which I think it swolled up a little. Then today I wake up again and the swollen on the gum got a little bigger, but I have no pain on the tooth or gum if I dont touch it or anything even if I drink (which is good because I was having pain like hell last week). So I had an appointment today to extract it, but since I thought It can be dangerous of the swollen gum where the tooth is to extract Im not going. Ill just wait till its unswollen. Are there any methods to save the tooth (Not root canal)? I heard that there is. Anyway also is it dangerous to extract a tooth when the gum is swollen? How do I unswollen the gum? Thank

Hey, I forgot to mention that im 15 years old and also another question: If the tooth gets pulled will another grow back? Because this is the second stage of teeth I have and I heard that when your adult the wisdom teeth grow.

Answer 1

Sounds to me like you are trying to avoid the dentist. The swollen bumb on your gums is most likely infection (infection doesn't always hurt) Infection doesn't go away either on its own especially when the source of the infection is inside your tooth...so you are playing with fire waiting to work on this tooth. AS for pulling the tooth with infection, it is ok (not ideal but ok). The risk of spread is small and antibiotics after extraction would make the risk even smaller. Healing can be delayed slightly. On a different note though...infection can make anesthesia difficult (sometimes heavily infected teeth are difficult to get numb) As for other methods to save the tooth...there are none. Once the nerve is destroyed on a tooth you are left with the two options presented to you (extraction or root canal). Why won't a filling or cap work?
Well a cap just covers the tooth keeping it supported...but it doesn't address the fact that the inside of your tooth is dead and rotting. A filling is the removal of decay with placement of a filling material...and while this removes the decay it also does not address the dead and rotting roots. Antibiotics and/or incision and drainage are the best way to reduce the swelling. Hope this answers your question. Good Luck
Oh and while you may get wisdom teeth (which are your third set of molars) there are no replacements for your adult teeth. Most people have 32 total adult teeth. If you lose one you are down to 31.

Answer 2

Sounds like it is abscessed. I had one of those a few years ago, and opted to have it pulled. Root canals are expensive, $2000.00 and up, you would be hard pressed to find a dental insurance that would cover this. I got mine yanked for $88.00. Root canals are not guaranteed, then you would have to have it pulled anyway.Whatever you decide, do it soon so you don't get a systmic infection. Sometimes, you are given an antibiotic before extraction. I wasn't. When they pulled it, the pus comes out with it.

Answer 3

Sounds like you have an infection. I had a root canal a few days ago. They are expensive $2000. You will not get another tooth if you pull this set. Talk to your parents about your insureance coverage. Do not wait any longer to see your dentist...It will not get better on it's own. In fact it can get much worse !!!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

You will not get a second tooth, but this can be an infection which antibiotics will take care of.