Having some anxiety/uncertainty about the removal (and potential implant) of my first lower left molar
Hi, 25M here. Around a month ago for an unrelated filling touch up, my dentist noticed an infection in my lower left first molar (tooth 19). I had gotten a root canal done there 7-8 years ago and hadn't noticed anything, but the xray clearly showed there being a void near the root of the tooth. The dentist gave me 2 options, root canal retreatment or extraction.
I visited an endodontist for a consultation about the tooth and whether it was savable, and they said a root canal would have less than a 50% chance of succeeding (due to the size of the infection and the amount of work I had done on the tooth prior) and recommended I get it extracted.
Given that prognosis, I scheduled a surgery to have the tooth removed and a bone graft done next week. I figured that if this tooth is going to need removed eventually, it's better to get it done and over with before it starts causing pain so I can start healing. This surgery is supposed to cost around $1200, which I'm paying mostly out of pocket for.
The treatment plan I was given quotes another $5300 to get an implant done, and quite frankly I'm not in a financial position to do that right now. I talked with my family and some friends about it, and my dad especially didn't seem to think it was a big deal, as he said he's had teeth extracted in the past and it hasn't really impacted his ability to chew or caused any dental problems. I'm a bit more skeptical and feel like losing this molar in particular is gonna be a huge adjustment and I'm really nervous about it. My plan right now is just to get it done and see how much it impacts me, and maybe save up for an implant (or even get the implant work done out of country). I do have a couple of questions:
Honestly, what is losing this molar going to be like? Is it really not as big of a deal as I'm thinking or is this something that I'm going to need to heavily consider?
Is it recommended I try to get an implant for this tooth? Even if I get the bone graft done, I'm worried that having this tooth missing for an extended period of time (since I currently don't have plans for the implant right now) would lead to other issues with my dental health.
If there's any other advice or considerations I should think about, that'd be much appreciated. I'm just worried about this whole thing.