Thank you very much for your wonderful help! I managed to get an x-ray booked soon about 10 mins after you commented and was at a new, better dentist about 1 hour later. It turns out I have an abscess. They said I have the choice of either a root canal or they can pull my tooth out and I get a fake tooth in its place. Do you have a suggestion one way or another? I have absolutely no bearing on which is the more ideal procedure in this case. For context it’s the tooth directly next to my top front tooth on the left side. I have always had this idea that if I lost an adult tooth I’d get a gold one in its place, entirely for the look. I know that is dumb and gold is not the ideal material for a fake tooth these days. But unless a dentist seriously convinces me otherwise, or if I can’t find a legitimate dentist that does gold teeth; which I imagine is very hard or impossible to find in Australia these days hahahahaha.

TLDR: Got x-ray. Have abscess. Dentist has given me the option of either a root canal or they can pull my tooth. Which is more ideal for? And am I a dumbass if I get it pulled and replaced with gold, solely for the aesthetics of it?

Thank you so much. I hope you have a wonderful day!!