I have a wisdom tooth which has been rotting for quite a bit. It recently broke off. I don’t see anything down there, but don’t know if I need to worry about it or if I can just leave it alone. Have you encountered this?
Scott
Dear Scott,
The good news is that it looks like you were very fortunate. Most of the time, when decay is not treated, then you will have an infection set in. That’s where the danger grows. When a tooth infection is not treated, it can become life threatening. There are between six and ten people who die from a tooth infection in the United States every year.
This is because without either a root canal treatment or a tooth extraction then the infection will spread. Your jaw is close to your heart, lungs, and even your brain. You do not want your tooth infection to spread to those area. If it does, a dental emergency can become a life threatening emergency.
Most of the time when patients avoid the dentist allowing their decay to grow it is because they have had difficult experiences in the dental chair and now have dental anxiety as a result. If that is you, I’d like to suggest that you see a dentist who offers sedation options. These will allow you to have dental appointments that are anxiety-free as well as pain-free.
As for your current situation. I think you should be fine. Once you lose the crown of the tooth and it comes off, you don’t have much to worry about. Yes, the rest of the tooth will decay. However, because the tooth is open there is little chance of an infection settling in. Though, you may want to get a check up to see where the state of your other teeth are.
This blog is brought to you by an advanced dentist in West Seneca, Dr. Carl Embury.