Hi Alex, if it should turn out that this is right, your tooth is dying, you'd definitely be wise to have it extracted. It is unfortunate for anybody to lose a tooth or teeth at any age, but devastating when you are young. However, many have this occur at any age through gum disease and other problems.

No reason why, if you do have it extracted, that you need to walk around with a missing gap and nothing to replace the tooth or the root.

Here is a link that will tell you about an implant made from zirconium (one of the most biocompatible materials you can have in your mouth so I hear). It is german made. This replaces not only the tooth, but the root also, which will keep your facial structure the same.

By the way, the top biologic dentist in my country who only uses the best materials (he's very fussy), uses zirconium implants so I have heard. He won't do root canals at all. He is very aware of oral toxicity, but obviously he is also aware of the appearance of a person also!

Here is a link to what it is - http://www.ceraroot.com/eng/pi/

hope this is helpful.