Dentist help.

[abcdefg]

@kongli, Did your girlfriend get her tooth fixed? How did the story end?

[benhadad]

The downside of pulling it is possible nerve damage. Of course a root canal and a crown also have side effects. From my research on dental items it would seem foolish to have all the wisdom teeth pulled. Current research shows that they can use the pulp of the wisdom teeth to extract stem cells that can be used to create new teeth. However this research hasn't figured out how to place these steam cells in a way that the full tooth is formed. In the case of your girl friend if the pulp is showing she might not have any choice but for a root canal and or extraction. But make sure she takes care of the rest of her teeth as they could be the future source of new teeth.

[kongli]

Well, She finally got her tooth pulled this last Sunday. Prior to the pull we consulted with the dentist recommended in this thread. She suggested we keep the tooth by capping it, which would cost several thousand yuan.

After this consultation we went to a nearby Chinese dentist who advised that we just pull the tooth since it was a wisdom tooth, which most people get pulled anyway.

So last Sunday we stopped at the local dental clinic 口腔 and her tooth pulled. It took around 20 minutes start to finish and four days later she is still doing great. Oddly she didn't experience hardly any pain after the pulling. Total cost was 320 yuan.

Anyway, my prejudices against Chinese dentists seem to be as silly as they were unfounded. Lesson learned.

[skylee]

Was it an upper tooth? I've heard that pulling an upper tooth is much easier. I had one (upper) pulled many years ago and it took about 10 minutes and the dentist sent me right back to office saying that I wouldn't need a sick day for that.

I still have 31 teeth. A friend of mine has only 24!

[abcdefg]

Well, She finally got her tooth pulled this last Sunday.

Very glad it all worked out well.