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Avatar universal

problem if extraction leaves a piece of root in place?

A dentist told me he had to be very careful to extract everything, when pulling a tooth, and to not leave behind any piece of the root. But another told me that if the root is too difficult to pull out (impacted, etc.) he would choose to leave the inaccessible piece of the root in place, especially if it is too close to the nerve.
What problems can a piece of root left behind cause, after an extraction, in the short-term and later on?
And what are the pros and cons of leaving the piece of root  in place, if its extraction would otherwise entail possible severance of the nerve, and/or a lot of bone-cutting? Hoping a dentist will answer, thanks!
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Avatar universal
COMMUNITY LEADER
You are probably referring to 2nd or 1st molar. Complete removal of whole tooth rarely causes any nerve damage. Seeing an oral surgeon is advised.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks for your prompt reply. To better explain my situation, I'm the patient, and the tooth in question does have a porcelain crown, but the question is about the bottom of one of its roots, which is twisted at the end, such that it cannot be simply pulled out.
1)- If I understand you correctly, the safest way to extract the tooth would be to leave in the twisted piece of root?  It will free itself from the nerve, correct? then later (months? years?), the dentist would go dig the piece of root that was left as it will migrate to the surface of the gum?
2)- I would be relieved if you can confirm I understood your question. One of my worries was that a piece of root left behind would cause a chronic infection. Please address that concern also? If there is no undue risk of infection, why not leave the leftover piece of root in place?
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Avatar universal
COMMUNITY LEADER
Assuming you are referring to coronectomy of lower impacted tooth. After cutting and separating the impacted part of crown(coronectomy),if patient develops electric like sensation during removal of remaining root or roots, I may choose to leave the root alone, although it never happened in my practice. Left root tends to keep erupting , although horizontally, it will move toward second molar. Once the root stay away from mandibular nerve, we can take it out safely.
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