Help Decide Between Extractions and Root Canal/Crowns

Help Decide Between Extractions and Root Canal/Crowns


When it comes down to choosing between restoring or removing a tooth, there are a number of factors that should be discussed and considered with your patient. Here’s how DentiCalc can help.

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Identifying the Issue


When a tooth has experienced extensive damage or decay, the patient is presented with two treatment options:

  1. Treat the root with a root canal and cover with a protective crown
  2. Remove the tooth and discuss options for replacement (implant, bridge, etc)
Dentist-patient communication

Of course, it’s always best to preserve the natural tooth whenever possible, but it’s the unfortunate truth that some patients will immediately opt for the treatment that is less expensive.

In most cases, removing the tooth is much less expensive than preserving it with a root canal and crown; it’s not uncommon for patients to opt for extraction simply because they don’t understand the importance of saving the tooth, especially if it is towards the back of the mouth.


Personal Experience


One of my most memorable patients was a young woman who came in with a complaint of soreness in her posterior teeth on the right side.

Her x-rays and examination presented that she would need an RCT/Crown on #30, with an alternative option of removing the tooth.

Dentist-patient communication

The patient was a young college student; cost was understandably a very important factor for her.

We took the time to explain her options to her, being sure to stress how important it was that she chose to preserve the tooth, especially considering her young age.

Despite our strong suggestions, the patient still refused to consider the root canal treatment, as she simply didn’t see the sense in spending so much money on a tooth that would never be seen anyway.

So, we searched online and found a few images that would help support what we were trying to tell her. When she returned for her next appointment, diagrams that projected bone loss after an extraction proved to be quite successful in allowing her to fully understand what we were trying to stress to her.

Finally, after seeing visual representations of what could happen to her oral health if she chose to extract the tooth, the young woman agreed to move forward with saving the tooth with a root canal and crown.

Due to time restrictions, we rescheduled for another day when the root canal could be completed. In the end, the patient was immensely grateful we did not give up on her and took the effort to ensure that she understood why it was important to save the tooth.

If we had been fortunate enough to have access to DentiCalc while presenting this patient’s treatment plan, it’s likely that we could have immediately convinced her of the importance of saving the tooth; DentiCalc’s intelligent program would have provided us with the resources we needed to easily communicate with our patient.

For more information about how DentiCalc can help enhance your treatment plan presentations, click here.

For more informational dental blog posts, click here.


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