[TubaMuffins]

I went to the dentist earlier this week for the first time in 2 years, got some x-rays done and my lower left wisdom tooth is coming in perfectly horizontal and pushing on the root of my molar. Naturally a cavity has occured in the area between the two teeth that is impossible to clean, the cavity is also dangeroulsy close to the root. So in a few weeks I will need to have all four wisdom teeth removed and the sooner I get that done the lesser the chance I will need a root canal to get rid of the cavity but my dentist didn't say that a root canal was completely unavoidable if I got the surgery ASAP. So, has anyone here ever gotten a root canal, I am very nervous based on only the things I've heard. I am dreading the next few weeks full of surgeries and pain.

[malvolio]

Never had one.
I hear they are really wicked painful. Be sure and let us know if that's true.

[- - e r i k - -]

They are painful like hell. You feel the way they are digging and ripping up your very nerves deep in your jaw. And it took the best part of a year to rid me of a clicking jaw from having sat for hours with a gaping mouth.

Brush your teeth kids

[Burke]

I had one in 2004. It's not really that bad, unless you're someone who doesn't recover well after being worked on. I'm allergic to codeine and any similar medications, so I had to get by with Aleve and following the post-proecdure to the letter; everything healed pretty quickly by doing so, though. I have to get another one done at some point, although I have no pain from it yet, so I'll wait.

The worst part is the expense.

[Kenneth]

Not here, but I watched it on MTV: Newlywed Nick & Jesscia. [reality TV] Sad to say, it looked horrible.

[Spliff]

I've had two. I just had one on Tuesday. Both root canals were the worst and most painful dental experiences I've ever had, but that's only because the nerves were dying and infected. The root canal is actually what provides the relief.

If the nerve has already died or is still healthy and not infected, then it shouldn't hurt as much. You'll just have some post-root canal soreness. But if the root develops an abscess, then you'll be in a world of hurt.

[Lancer409]

root canals = no big deal

had one on my lower right molar. they rub an ointment on your gums to numb 'em, then they shoot some liquid into it with a syringe (ur gums are already numb from ointment so it isnt too bad) and the liquid in the syringe totally numbs your gums up. not totally but very well...

you can feel 'em digging in your molar, and digging at the nerves, but the numbing does a lot. i would equate the pain to drinking ice water with sensitive teeth (which i had, which is why they took the nerves out). u get this sharp stinging sensation (similar to having icewater/sensitive teeth)... that's it .. nothing insanely painful.. not like pulling the skin off of your arm or something along those lines ... it's just ... a very uncomfortable stinging sensation you get every now and then. your reaction will be an automatic flinch, or you'll have a quick shiver.

when i had it done .. i realized it really wasnt a big deal. maybe it's a pain threshold thing .. but i'm a little wuss, and i wouldnt mind another root canal if it was needed.

the bills usually hurt a lot more...

[wataru]

I had one. You may recall that I busted one of my front teeth in half back at Kenwood. I had to have a root canal before they put a crown over it. It was not a fun experience.

First of all, they do rub topical cocaine on your gums, but that never really works well on me. So I got to enjoy the syringe when they injected the novocaine. But that didn't set in quickly enough either, so they had to give me more novocaine injected directly into the exposed pulp of my half-tooth. Then they scraped and dug and tugged for like an hour while I sat there thinking "this isn't worth missing school."

Afterward you have followup visits where they apply an electric current to your surrounding teeth and you tell them if you feel anything. That's to check to see whether the surgery damaged the other teeth. It kind of tickles.

[Kilbey]

I had a root canal because I broke a tooth and it got infected. It broke nearly in half and the pain from the infection was the worst pain I have ever been in.

I went to a guy that only did root canals. A specialist. They numbed the whole side of my face and it was virtually painless. Less pain than a simple filling for a cavity.

I took no pain killers after. Only antibiotics. A couple weeks later I had a cap put on the tooth and everything is perfect again.

Shop around. Look for a specialist is my only advice.

[Rev-O]

I've had my fair share, and they range from somewhat painful to cake walk. I actually fell asleep during a root canal once.

Wisdom teeth aren't so bad either. I had all 4 of mine extracted at one time. My top were just yanked, but my bottoms had to be chiseled out. Even at that, I was eating solid food 3 or 4 days after.

What you want, my friend, is an endodontist. They specialize in root canals, so they tend to be pretty good at 'em.

[macroy]

I had one years ago - to remove an abscess that had developed. The pain I felt before the procedure (having the abscess) was definitely worse than the work itself.

Supposedly, when they dig into the abscess to drain it - it stinks to high heaven. I was warned ahead of time, but was too out of it to realize it when it happened.

[pooka]

I've had several done and the only painful part is paying the bill.

I'd say getting a cavity filled is worse than a root canal.

[effgee]

What the others said above - look for a specialist.

I went to a "regular" dentist once in the US - the bastard turned out to be a butcher with a drill who literally squashed a nerve in my lower right jaw while treating me. Result was a completely numb lower right jaw for almost an entire year - as if the anaesthesia never wore off. This happened in fall of 2000 and to this day, it still tingles every now and then. Of course that's not descriptive of all "regular" dentists - I just had some real bad luck when picking that particular dung-head.

For my next dentist appointment, I searched for a doctor who specialized in treating fearful patients (my jaw was still numb then and I nearly crapped my pants even thinking of some dude rummaging around im my mouth with a sharp instrument) and he was the shit. Friendly, sensible, careful, the whole nine yards.

To fix part of the damage done by the first dentist, I had to have oral surgery and the new dentist sent me to a surgeon who offered to do the procedure with the best coctail of anaesthetics I ever heard of ... IIRC, it consisted of the following:

- Diazepam (valium to calm you down)
- Fentanyl (pain blocker)
- Versed (also a pain blocker, causes short term amnesia)

What this does to the patient is that it works (from the patients' POV) like general anaesthesia - you sit down in the chair, get an iv, pass out (you actually do not pass out as in "losing consciousness" but it sure feels like it), they do surgery and you "wake up" (come to it) later not remembering a single friggin' detail of what happened.

If you're in for a really rough treatment (ask your doc!), that just might be the way to go. It not only made the surgery easier for me, knowing that there's always an alternative to local anaesthesia that I can ask for also helped me get rid of my "dentist-panic".

[Mastrap]

I had one root canal done and didn't feel a thing.

Go and find yourself a good dentist, somebody you trust. The guy who did mine was ultra careful and used anaesthetics before anything could become a problem. He even numbed the area he was going to inject before injecting. My kind of doctor.

The only thing I could feel was a weird grating sensation from the file when he was opening up the canal, but that was just strange, not painful.

[wdlove]

I had my four wisdom teeth removed when I was a freshman in college. Due the fact that two of them were impacted it was one under general anesthesia.

Just had a root canal done a little over a year ago. In my case it was almost pain free. Only discomfort was the slight twinge with injection of Novocain. So in my case, I would high recommend the procedure, it was done at the Harvard Dental school.

[Eug Wanker]

My root canal did not hurt. And if you can believe it, I actually fell asleep during mine. Seriously.

[BRussell]

No pain at all for me. Actually it relieved a lot of pain, because my tooth was hurting like hell before I had it done. I had the novocaine.

[viperstrike]

I had one done 2 weeks ago. Well, actually the procedure was split into 2 appointments. Let me explain:

- got cavity filled. Next day, one side of my face (but not the tooth) hurt really bad. Ear, jaw and head ached.
- Dentist said I needed to get a root canal and sent me to a dentist that only did root canals...which means there is A LOT of money in this. Thank God for having a decent dental plan.
- Had to get an emergency 'something', where all they do is remove the nerve and finish the rest later. Scheduled an appointment in 3 days to finish the produre.
- Doctors wife gave birth 2 days later. Appt rescheduled for next week.
- 7 days later, produre finished. Total time in chair for procedure, ~ 90 min.

So for 9 days, I had a huge hole in my tooth stuffed with a 'sponge' (listerine mouthwash and strips are your friend). Compared to getting a filling, much less painful. There was soreness in the mornings because I slept on the side of the tooth, but it was a muscle soreness, not a toothache type of pain, which i think is more manageable.

One note, my wisdom tooth was pushing food into the problem tooth. Because of the angle, x-rays did not pick it up until the decay was very deep. So, it wasn't my dental hygiene. Now, next week, I have to get a crown. And possible get that wisdom tooth extracted. I've been getting more Novocain in 1 month, then I've had over my whole lifetime.

So, remember kids brush and floss those teeth, because this isn't cheap. Even though my insurance paid a good amount for it, my out of pocket cost would have been an IPod...the 20G...retail. (Pain or IPod...I really didn't have enough time to decide.)

[Eug Wanker]

Dentist said I needed to get a root canal and sent me to a dentist that only did root canals...

Endodontist

[Mafia]

i had one also. the procedure wasn't painful, however the before and after effects were extremely painful. i was almost sick with pain before but they gave me loratab 10's. after the surgery they gave me ibuprofen 400's which did not help much. ask for stronger pain medication and you'll be straight.

[markponcelet]

*smacks forehead*

Why do I read these things? I've had two kinds of eye surgery, both without pain relief. No big deal. But this ... this sounds horrific!

*runs away, screaming, hands flailing in the air*

[RobOnTheCape]

Talk about coincidence. I just got back from the dentist awhile ago after getting a root canal. I think the worst part was just the initial needles of novacaine, and a couple of winces indicating to the doc that I needed more juice. After listening to people I know saying "o that's too bad" etc... I was expecting the worst, but really nothing worse than getting a filling for me.

I'm sure different problems can cause different levels of discomfort.

btw... the ipod mini came in real handy during the procedure.

Good luck

[sugar_coated]

Pain is interpreted in the brain and can be distracted.

[villalobos]

Originally posted by Kilbey:
I had a root canal because I broke a tooth and it got infected. It broke nearly in half and the pain from the infection was the worst pain I have ever been in.

I went to a guy that only did root canals. A specialist. They numbed the whole side of my face and it was virtually painless. Less pain than a simple filling for a cavity.

I took no pain killers after. Only antibiotics. A couple weeks later I had a cap put on the tooth and everything is perfect again.

Shop around. Look for a specialist is my only advice.

Funny, that's exactly my story. Molar broken in half, I am having a root canal tomorrow afternoon and as much as I hate dentists, I can't wait for it to happen. The root is infected and it hurts like hell, in spite of me being a acetaminophen junkie.... Won't sleep much tonight, that's for sure. Ugh.

villa

[Daveecee]

Apparently, I'm lucky enough to have a big mouth... So if my wisdom teeth come in the right way, I might not even have to get them removed. I haven't needed braces either... I guess I've been lucky so far

[villalobos]

Well it happened. I had the root canal done this afternoon. The process was fairly pain free, especially after the second dose of anesthesics. Weird sensation since the dentist was digging in my tooth but i couldn't really feel anything. it feels worse afterwards, once the anesthetic effect has faded.... but I'll sleep better than before the root canal.

[Kilbey]

Originally posted by villalobos:
Well it happened. I had the root canal done this afternoon. The process was fairly pain free, especially after the second dose of anesthesics. Weird sensation since the dentist was digging in my tooth but i couldn't really feel anything. it feels worse afterwards, once the anesthetic effect has faded.... but I'll sleep better than before the root canal.

Glad everything went well.

I remember when I had mine done that they basically numbed my whole head. The ear on the opposite side of my head was even numb and I couldn't even sense when I was touching it with my hand.

Today I can only tell which tooth I had done by looking at it in the mirror. Can't tell by feeling around with my tongue.

[Randman]

Ugh, had my experience today and again tomorrow. Back in January, I developed a sinus infection (get them pretty regularly over the last 18 months) and eventually developed a very painful area right on the left jaw hinge, complete with clicking.

Well, after a month of antibiotics and whatnot, the doctors decided to send me to a dental specialist. I don't have the greatest set of teeth to begin with (damn my genes as it runs on both sides of my family) but I have two teeth that were in pretty bad shape.
The doctor said I may have an infection in the tooth (right next to the sinus cavity) and the two infections kept going back and forth until I developed a slight abscess on the jaw hinge.
So, this morning went to get them checked after yesterday's x-rays and probing and prodding. They decided to do the bottom wisdom tooth first. So they tried to clean it up some, then did a root canal and finally had to send me over for extraction.
Anesthetics don't work very well on me and it took about 5 shots just to numb the area partially (my gums and tongue didn't go numb at all). The extraction failed so they sent me to a different area for oral surgery and extraction and more pain and whatnot.
The pain killers are helping some now but it varies from aching to agony.

Now, I have to be back tomorrow for the top tooth. The x-rays show that it's not as bad as the bottom so I may not need more than a cleaning and a filling or crown. However, if I have to have it taken out. I have to decide if I want to wait till the end of the year for a bridge, go with a gap a few teeth from the back or get a cap, which will mean opening the gums surgically, drilling a hole into the bone and screwing in a fake tooth.

As much as today was painful, I'm become suddenly devout and hoping that I get away with just a root canal and some kind of crown and/or cap.

Oh, and this stupid job of mine that I'm looking for a new one doesn't fully cover dental so most of this is coming out of my pocket.

[effgee]

Originally posted by Randman:
Ugh, had my experience today ...

Holy crap, that's terrible - I know pretty darn well what you're going through.

Before you make up your mind about what kind of treatment (cap, crown, bridge, etc.) you go with make sure you ask your doc about the longevity of each solution. IIRC, caps last the longest (about 20 yrs.), while a bridge generally lasts "only" half that time - in which case it is quite likely that you're going to have a similar procedure done again sometime in the future.

**shudder**

I have a bridge myself (knocked out a tooth with a hammer, don't ask ) which had to be replaced after about 8 years - and back then that fscking German dentist never even told me about the possibility of a cap. He just said "Here's what we're gonna do ... bridge ... bla, bla" and idiot that I used to be, I never questioned his advice. Fool me once, etc., etc.

Next "problem" of the bridge - with a cap you loose only one tooth. When they put in a bridge, they will most likely have to file down the adjacent teeth (left and right of the tooth to be "bridged") as well - so in order to replace one tooth, you loose three. The only advantage of a bridge that I know of is that they're cheaper than a cap, which around here costs around 1,200 EUR.

My advice: Get as much info as you can before you make a decision - don't let them just send you from one "buddy" specialist to the next.

And - most importantly - read my first post upthread about the "semi-full-anaesthesia". It might cost you a couple of bucks extra but I can promise that you won't regret it. Especially not with a more serious procedure like the one you (unfortunately) have ahead of you.

Good luck!

[Randman]

Well, day 2 (actually day 5 as I've been to the doctor/dentist every day since Sunday) of the procedures went better than the first day.

Only slept for about 90 minutes last night but wasn't too tired this morning. Luckily, the top tooth was in slightly better shape than the bottom and all it required was a serious cleaning for the infection
Other than the first needle injections, it was uncomfortable but nowhere near as painful as yesterday.
A temp crown was placed on it and I have to go back in a month for another cleaning of it and a permanent crown. And this Monday, will go back to have the stitches taken out for the bottom. Since it's in back, I opted for the bridge.

Now, just have a massive headache and some swelling. The bleeding wasn't too bad yesterday so it appears I may survive this after all. Now to see if this actually helps with my jaw pain and my sinus troubles.

[Randman]

Now, 5 days after the surgery and I'm still in a world of pain. Swelling has finally gone done a little but even the massive amounts of pain killers are barely helping. Finally slept more than 2 hours but not much more.
And tomorrow, I have to go back and have the stitches taken out. Jeez, this is one cure that is much worse than the disease, it's appearing.

[effgee]

Originally posted by Randman:
Now, 5 days after the surgery and I'm still in a world of pain. Swelling has finally gone done a little but even the massive amounts of pain killers are barely helping. Finally slept more than 2 hours but not much more.
And tomorrow, I have to go back and have the stitches taken out. Jeez, this is one cure that is much worse than the disease, it's appearing.

Did they take out more than one tooth? IANAD, but I think 5 days is a bit long for the wound to still hurt like hell. When I had my dental surgery done a couple of years ago, it hurt considerably on the second day, bugged me on the third and felt "tender" for another week or so after that. Not that I want to creep you out even more than you already (and understandably so) are - but are you sure the wound's not inflamed/infected?

[RobOnTheCape]

What's killing me is that I had the root canal a few weeks ago, but just had to have a temporary crown fitted, and then next week have the permanent one placed. Wouldn't have made a difference, but would have appreciated them letting me know about all of this before hand. They were trying to help me avoid sticker shock I guess.

[bubblewrap]

I had to have a crown last week.
Even with my insurance, I still had to pay $480.

I went in to have a broken tooth fixed.(I banged my head on the wing of an airplane.) Had the dentist look at a deteriorating filling.
Next thing I knew he was grinding it away. Than the tooth was too far gone to fill. But no root canal! Yay! So I get my permanent crown Wednsday.

[Randman]

Well, they had to go into the gum and bone to remove the tooth (after the root canal). I've been on plenty of antibiotics. It's a little better today but still not good. Like I said, I have to go in tomorrow afternoon to check on the stitches, so I'll have them check to make sure that something's not messed up. If not, I'll see about getting drugs, stronger, faster and longer-lasting ones.

[nredman]

i had a root canal about a year ago, actually two since the first try didn't take. it was on an incisor tooth. my dentist said it was the longest root she had ever seen before. i really didn't find it all that painful...i did get some novocain...no gas though. sure there are painful moments when they are digging deep but its not as bad as you think it will be (imho)

[Randman]

Well, just got back from the dental centre ... again. Doctor said it was healing but not as well as he would have liked, so he took the stitches out but put two more in until the end of the week when I have to go back. Also, got stronger antibiotics and painkillers. Area is numb now from the local but I can start to feel it wearing off. Ugh.

[kmkkid]

I've had two. The most painful part of the whole ordeal is the needle. Which is nothing really.





Chris

[kmkkid]

Originally posted by nredman:
my dentist said it was the longest root she had ever seen before.

My dentist told me the same, my root was 1" 3/4 long.

[viperstrike]

You all are not going to believe this! So after my reply back in Feb, I went back to finish the root canal after the 'emergency palliative treatement'. My endodontist is amazing. He's had 3 root canals and knows what it feels like...but back to my story. So, after the root canal, went back to my dentist to get a crown ( gold baby, bling bling ). That was Thursday March 10th. Then friday, woke up with a slight pain on the other side.

To make a long story longer, the same tooth on the opposite side of my mouth cracked due to an old filling, and I had to get ANOTHER 'emergency palliative treatment' today. Root canal #2 is finalized this Thursday, and i have to make another appt to get fitted for another gold tooth.

Oh, and I failed to mention that my dental plan money is all used up...root canal #2 is all out of pocket! But getting rid of this agonizing pain is worth it. I just try to not think that I could have purchased a Canon 20D and lenses with the cost of this stupid cracked tooth

[Randman]

Better luck for you than my ordeal. Though I must say, after yesterday's procedude, it's a world of difference. I'm back at work for the first time in more than a week. I'm sore and I can feel a slight throbbing on that side of the face but the headache and intense pain is gone. For the first time since I had the procedure, it feels as if I'll live through it.

[nredman]

Originally posted by kmkkid:
My dentist told me the same, my root was 1" 3/4 long.

i dont remember how long mine was...i have the xray though. the dentist sucks. the only good thing is that i have a hot female dentist

[effgee]

Originally posted by nredman:
... the only good thing is that i have a hot female dentist

Especially hot if you're into that whole paing thing ...