I had a cavity about 20 years back and the tooth needed to be extracted to alleviate the pain. The dentist said something like “you need to replace that tooth o

I had a cavity about 20 years back and the tooth needed to be extracted to alleviate the pain. The dentist said something like “you need to replace that tooth or else your jaw will lose the bone and all your other teeth will shift and it’ll cause problems down the road!” I thought about it and deferred the decision… for 20 years. Recently, I received an X-ray to see how much my teeth shifted and if it was problematic. None. The total cost to get a new tooth was like $5k. I got an implant done so that a crown could be placed later down the road and I am deferring the crown. And of course, the new dentist is using a similar scare tactic:”act now! The implant might blah blah blah.” Sometimes, I wonder if dentistry is the world most accepted sham.