To pull or not to pull?

[YSI]

When I bring it up, I always hear "Oh no your other teeth will then shift!"

So if I have a decayed middle upper tooth, between two crowns, and I quite frankly have a perfectly straight but very crowded mouth, would pulling a tooth possibly be more beneficial than harmful? How fast do the teeth shift after pulling a tooth, and just how much do they really shift?

 

[Dr M]

Good day
To tell you if it is a good idea to do the extraction, is dependent on several factors. How decayed is the tooth? Are there any other options in order to try and save the tooth? Teeth adjacent to the extraction site, tend to shift or tilt after an extraction, but this can take a year or more to happen. This might influence your chances of replacing the missing tooth later due to space limitation etc.
I tend to see an extraction as a last resort, because when a tooth is gone, you can't get it back.