Who is extracting your tooth (part 1)?

We often see patients who had teeth extracted at another dental office. On multiple occasions, the stories they share are not pleasant. They tell us that it took “two hours” to get a tooth out, that “they were in pain” when the doctor was removing the tooth and that they were “black and blue” afterwards.
They come to our office wanting to have a dental implant done, to replace the tooth that was extracted. Imagine their unpleasant surprise when they find out that the tooth was not removed completely and that a piece of tooth was left behind.
That means that before a dental implant can be placed, the remaining piece of tooth needs to be removed, followed by more “waiting for the bone to heal”. That prolongs treatment time, increases the financial burden on the patient, and in general complicates an already complicated situation.

Let us look at a few examples:

I think the take home point is that to avoid unpleasant surprises, it is best to have a tooth removed by an oral surgeon. That way a patient can be sure that there will be no “root tip shock” later on and a dental implant can be placed in a routine, straightforward manner.