Can a Healthy Tooth be Pulled and Replaced with an Artificial One?
Q.
Hi,
I have completely straight teeth, except for one canine tooth that took too long to come back in after my baby teeth fell out and didn’t have enough room to come down – it is raised and protruding. I can’t afford braces and am getting married next summer. I refuse to show my teeth when I smile, especially for pictures, because of it. I asked the dentist/orthodontist about extraction but they acted like it wasn’t an option because of that being an important tooth. Can’t the tooth be pulled and a false tooth be somehow permanently placed in the space where this tooth should’ve been? It doesn’t seem right that braces could be the only option for one tooth.
Hi,
I have completely straight teeth, except for one canine tooth that took too long to come back in after my baby teeth fell out and didn’t have enough room to come down – it is raised and protruding. I can’t afford braces and am getting married next summer. I refuse to show my teeth when I smile, especially for pictures, because of it. I asked the dentist/orthodontist about extraction but they acted like it wasn’t an option because of that being an important tooth. Can’t the tooth be pulled and a false tooth be somehow permanently placed in the space where this tooth should’ve been? It doesn’t seem right that braces could be the only option for one tooth.
A.
It is an ethical dilemma to remove a perfectly healthy tooth and put in a replacement that would never be as good as your own tooth. Besides, if you have an implant or bridge replacement this will never look as natural as your own tooth and is unlikely to be the correct size as well. An implant replacement would also cost as much as the orthodontics. Anything ‘artificial’ will also need to be replaced many times throughout your life so the long term cost will be even greater.
It is an ethical dilemma to remove a perfectly healthy tooth and put in a replacement that would never be as good as your own tooth. Besides, if you have an implant or bridge replacement this will never look as natural as your own tooth and is unlikely to be the correct size as well. An implant replacement would also cost as much as the orthodontics. Anything ‘artificial’ will also need to be replaced many times throughout your life so the long term cost will be even greater.
My advice would be to save up or spread the payments and have the orthodontics as the most ideal and healthiest option.
Regards, Mark.
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