Opinions about root canals welcomed.

6/3/03 | Dane

[Dane]

I am currently going through root canal treatment. Yes there is embarassment by my tooth(molar) has rotted and in need of a root canal and yet I dug deeper(no pun intended) and did some research and read that it is basically a very common procedure(albeit expensive), but I am interested in learning about any Freeper's previous experiences with this dental procedure.

I am surmising that from over 100,000 Freeper's that at least 1,000(1%) of the 100,000 Freeper's had root canal.

The statistic in the above paragraph is my own summation.

Here's the story, about 7 months ago, I bought a pack of licoriche from a vending machine and when eating one the sticks of the package, I noticed a hard piece of matter in my mouth(no San Francisico jokes please) and spit it out. It was part of one of my teeth. I never had any overt pain with my teeth. The only pain was going to a dentist, especially the dentist that I visited over 20 years ago who had fun with my buckle cavity and the dentist decided to play with it with his pick and do a "Marathon Man" imitation and I never visited a dentist since that moment.

Well I just decided to ignore the broken tooth since it didn't hurt. That worked fine for 6 months, until about three weeks ago, at midnight I was awoken with pain and it lasted all night. I called a local dentist the next morning and they couldn't take me for a week and they prescribed me some antibiotics, which actually worked to reduce the pain.

To make a long story short, there is a moral to this story. Don't take your teeth for granted, IMHO. Teeth can cause a lot of pain.

I know, I know, this thread will be attacked by Libertarians, calling me "Mr. Nanny" and other Libertarian collialquisms, but what the hey, all I am doing is giving my opinion and life experience.

Take care of your teeth and they will take care of you.

[Dane]

I did a major google search about dental health and from the 1000 or so web sites I looked at, I found this one by a Dentist in Massachusetts, to be the most plain spoken and helpful.

DoctorSpiller.com

Again any root canal experiences, good or bad, are welcome.

[BunnySlippers]

Whatever you do, don't have the tooth pulled. Have the root canal. As far as I am concerned a root canal is not painful. Wear comfy clothes when going to the dentist and RELAX.

[areafiftyone]

How strange you should post this. I just returned from a hospital stay for an infected wisdom tooth! They gave me heavy duty antibiotics intravenously and had to operate! It was scary and I never want to go thru that again! I now am taking much better care of my teeth and learned my lesson the hard way!

[montomike]

I've had one root canal. I am now very good at cleaning my teeth and flossing everyday. I never want to repeat this experience...ever. It really sucked. The dentist takes these little round files and files a big hole in each of the four roots after taking a big ass drill and drilling for oil. The sound just drives you nuts as the file goes in and out. It got stuck once and he had to really pull. He never apologized. Then he had to put in this noxious chemical to kill the root really good. Then he let me go home to mull it over while the root died. Then I went back for more torture. It is absolutely a horrible, horrible experience. Good luck, you are going to need it.

[areafiftyone]

Get the root canal. My sister got it done and said it was painless. The only annoying thing is keeping your mouth open for a long time. Good luck!

signed
Toothless!

[tje]

I had a root canal done poorly. It continued to hurt for about 4 years until I found a dentist to fix it. Fixing a bad root canal is not pleasant. I would sue the bastard if I could find him..

I also went to a dentist thinking I would need a root canal only to find a piece of chicken bone (a sliver) and slipped down between the tooth and gum and become infected. Good dentist found that..

[SoDak]

5 years ago, I had a tooth become abcessed, which was wildly painful for a couple of weeks, to the point where I was getting 2 hours of sleep a day in 15 minute stints. After the infection had been treated, the subsequent root canal to fix the original problem seemed like a piece of cake. In my case, the tooth was one of my fronts that had been likely "killed" when I was a kid and got hit in the face with a baseball.

[circles]

I've had several. They are actually pretty routine for experienced dentists. They take two visits normally. In the first, the tooth pulp is removed, which should clear up the infection. In the next the interior of the tooth is plugged. There can be infection inside the tooth between visits (don't ask me how since there is no pulp left), but this is easy to resolve.

They are expensive, though. And most dentists recommmend the tooth be capped, which is equally expensive.

[RayBob]

Had it...longest three hours of my life. the procedure wasn't bad pain-wise as you are numbed, but they keep your jaw open wide for a couple of hours. And the dry-dam...that latex dry-dam...forgot about that. They put this metal ring on your tooth, then fit the dry-dam over it and extend it out of your mouth. Serves two purposes: one, keeps the tooth dry and the area free of saliva, cantaminates, etc. and second, keeps the tiny tools the dentist uses from falling down your throat. (No, I'm not making this up)

The worst part was the stiffness in my jaw for a day or so afterwards... that and the cost. The RC cost me about $490 about 9 years ago, and the crown another $500. The Dentist may have a payment plan available to ease the cost... if memory serves, mine had some sort of interest free plan available through some professional group.

[catonsville]

Like many things in life, the misery of root canal work is overstated. I had some work done about four years ago, two root canals. With plenty of anesthesia, it was not a bad experience. There are new techniques, new drugs, new equipment in dentistry that makes this procedure less foreboding.

Having a teeth pulled, especially one that is cracked, now that's a different story.

[RayBob]

If they use the latex dry-dam, let them know before hand if you are allergic to latex...could save you alot of trouble!

[Dane]

Whatever you do, don't have the tooth pulled.

I read about that, where if a person has a tooth pulled that the teeth start to realign to make up for the missing tooth and the teeth realigning can actually realign the face.

[Dane]

I now am taking much better care of my teeth and learned my lesson the hard way.

I did also. Of course my tooth decided to flare up at midnight and I had wait 8 hours to get any relief.

Once I got the prescription for the antibiotics I went from the pharmacy to the closest convience store and bought bottled water to take the antibiotic.

Didn't buy Evian, which was at the most marketable place on the shelf.

[decimon]

I know, I know, this thread will be attacked by Libertarians, calling me "Mr. Nanny" and other Libertarian collialquisms...

That would make no sense if "collialquisms" were a word.

I'm genetically inclined to tooth problems and have had more than one root canal done. You indicated a molar but not if it's a wisdom tooth. Probably not a wisdom tooth as they are more apt to be pulled than rooted. Up to six canals and prone to complications.

You'll likely find the procedure to be a pita but not all that painful for dental work.

ADVICE: Have it done at the beginning of the week and not before the weekend. Complications can cause (a day or two later) a throbbing pain or a "dental swell" of fluid build-up. That swell can cause half your face to look like like a big onion.

[Ranxerox]

It's no big deal - unless you put it off. If I remember correctly, infections around teeth can travel to the bone or onto the brain. The procedure is more annoying than painful because of the time spent in the chair (1 - 2 Hrs) and return visits to complete all the work. Think of it as an extended-stay filling. Novacaine is the anesthetic of choice, so eat something the day of your visit.

Face it, you took a gamble 20 years ago and had a pretty good run, but now you have to deal with it. It will be easier now rather than putting it off, which will only make things worse.

From what you describe, it sounds like you'll end up with a crown, too. So expect to spend around $800-$1000 after all is said and done.

[borkrules]

I never want to repeat this experience...ever. It really sucked.

Thanx for NOTHING, pal. I have to go and have one done and I've been procrastinating like crazy because I am scared sh!tless of the dentist. It's completely irrational and stems from a bad experience in childhood. It takes weeks for me to pull myself together and work up the gumption just to schedule my cleanings. I HATE it.

Your story, while funny and well told in a "god that sucked something fierce" sort of way, probably set me back another week. I have got to find a dentist that will just put me OUT.

[Dane]

I've had one root canal. I am now very good at cleaning my teeth and flossing everyday. I never want to repeat this experience...ever. It really sucked.

I also.

The root canal really didn't hurt, only when I said "AHHHHH" when he hit a sensitive part, and automatically he put some more novacaine in.

The Dentist said I had a "hot" tooth, which from what I read meant that the nerve was alive and highly inflamed, but not dead.

With a root canal I don't know if that is good or bad.

[BluH2o]

Had a root canal procedure about four years ago. Went to a specialist recommended by my regular dentist ... this individual was excellent, a lengthy procedure granted, but not particularly painful. The tooth then needs to be capped (in my case a molar) so I went back to my regular dentist for that procedure. This required two visits, I wasn't happy with the cap (it had no tooth definition) so I went back until they got it right ...

[Cagey]

.....can actually realign the face.

That only happens when dealing with Dentists from NJ and you don't pay your bill.

I've had a couple of root canals and I found the process itself not painful at all. However, as one poster pointed out, they can become infected between procedures. That happened to me while I was away skiing and it made for a miserable couple of days that only consuming large amounts of brandy could help. My dentist called in a script to a pharmacy close to where I was at and that finally did the trick. You might want to ask him for an antibiotic script if you are doing any travelling between visits.

[montomike]

Sorry.

That was why I had the bad experience. I let it go too long and fester. The doc said it was pretty infected. Look on the bright side. Ask for Vicodin. He gave me a couple of bottles worth. They go really well with fine scotch whiskey!