Recently, I saw many patients who had some very short roots in their mouths with serious decay on the surface. When asked about the reason for not extracting them, the answer they got was that their roots were good and extracting them hurt their health or they wanted to wait for the roots to fall out by themselves. These answers are very common and often encountered. However, some teeth, such as some “rotten roots”, are not only non-functional, but may also cause resorption of the alveolar bone around the root, which may make it difficult or impossible to restore your missing teeth in the future. In some cases, it may even become a focal point for certain systemic diseases. Removing a focal tooth will not harm your health, but will only benefit you. If the root is well treated, and the surrounding alveolar bone support is good, and the length of the root is good enough for a pile crown restoration or as a supporting part of a “movable denture”, the doctor will give you advice on how to keep it. The easiest way is to trust the professional advice and fully understand the pros and cons of keeping or removing the root, so that you can make the right choice!