Root canal questions

[laborcat]

Has anyone here had a root canal? My dentist says I need one, he won't just pull the tooth, and I'm terrified. He referred me to someone that only does root canals (he doesn't do them in his office for those back teeth) and I've been afraid to call them, partly due to financial reasons and I'm afraid of the pain. But it keeps getting infected and I'm at the point where ill figure out the money thing, but I'm still afraid. Almost 43 and so terrified that I can't dial the phone, even though this pain right now makes me sick to my stomach and I'm popping 800mg ibuprofen every four hours and barely functioning. I need advice, or reassurance, or some common sense smacked into me. What should I expect, more or less?

[PastryGal]

I'm surprised he's refusing to pull the tooth. I've had a couple of back ones removed because I couldn't afford a root canal, they're hella expensive, even with the benefits I had at the time. My dentist didn't push for either just gave me all the info and costs for both and let me decide. I found ibuprofen didn't work well on me for the pain. I'd get an hour of relief max. I found Aleve worked awesome. Wish I could be more helpful.

[BeeMused]

I've had several... don't worry too much, modern dentistry makes it not too bad.
You've been referred to people who do lot's of root canals, so they'll be good at it. Tell them you're terrified, there's no shame in that.
With anesthesia it feels weird when they scrape the nerve tissue out of the root canals, but that's about it.
So call them and be free of pain soon!

[paperfiend]

It could be that you need the root canal to clear out any infection, and that's why he won't just pull the tooth (which might leave some infection behind).

Regardless - the time I had a root canal, I felt SO much better after the procedure! I had been taking tons of ibuprofen like you are, and as soon as everything was cleaned out I think I took 2 more doses and then didn't need it anymore. Compared to the infection, the recovery from root canal was trivial.

If you go to a specialist (which I did) - they will make sure you are properly numb, then they will drill in and clean out all the nerve and soft tissue from the inside of that tooth. Then they put in some kind of antiseptic next. My understanding was that sometimes they put in a temporary packing on top of the antiseptic, and have you come back in a day or two to be absolutely sure the infection is all gone before they permanently fill in the tooth. In my case they were pretty confident that they had gotten all the infection, and they could see that things were clean, so they filled it in and added a temporary crown and sent me home. I could eat with the temp crown, so I didn't have to rush right back to my regular dentist for the permanent crown.

[Food Lady]

I've had one done and it didn't hurt at all. The most trying thing was simply that it's a longer procedure than I'm used to. Really, it's made out to be much worse than it is. Do note that they took my root out and put in a post, but I haven't gotten the crown yet. From what they say that's no biggie. The only hard thing about that is having to trek to the office twice, appointments exactly a week apart.

[Nunavut Pants]

I've had two. One was for a badly cracked tooth that was later removed. (And replaced by an implant, but that's another story!) One was for a not-badly-cracked tooth that wound up with a crown.

The same surgeon handled both cases. My dentist evidently works with him a lot, and he is one of the better ones out there. In each case, I got numbed up, had the procedure, and afterward there was no pain--zero. (Apart for some aching around the general area.) The nerves were completely removed, so there was nothing there to transmit pain! It was pretty remarkable, really!

.... My mother had a couple of them, many many many many years ago. (Probably before most of you were born.) Her experiences were much less pleasant, so I was pretty nervous about it. But it was really no problem--apart from the expense! I guess oral surgery has come an awfully long way since the 70s.

[OneMoreTime]

I've had 3 root canals, and they were not that bad. You may want to let the dentist know how nervous you are beforehand, and they may prescibe an anti-anxiety med. Dentistry has come a long way and the procedure is much better than in the past.

[Teskeria]

I apparently had one in boot camp. I didn't know I had ever had a root canal until the tooth itself fell apart around the post. My dentist referred me to a surgeon to remove the post. So I would say it wasn't bad at all.

[Teefies2]

I had one in the 80s. Haven't had a single problem with it since. Given that it was so long ago, I don't recall any issues - couldn't have been that bad though, or I sure would remember it!

I agree with whoever said above that you have to get the infection cleared out and a root canal is the most accepted way of doing it. If they just pull the tooth, it won't clear the infection and that leads to whole 'nother set of problems. Guaranteed, dentistry has come a long long way from when I had it done!

Even well over 30 years later, I still have no issues with that tooth. So just "get 'er done" as Larry would say

[Mikkel]

I have had a few too and you shouldn't worry. It doesn't hurt while they do it and when the nerve is gone there isn't anything left to hurt with. Afterwards you may feel a bit sore, after all two people have been pulling and drilling the tooth, but it will stop soon.
6 times 800 mg Ibuprofen a day? I can assure you that an ulcerated stomach hurts too. You should get it done soon, before you do any damage to yourself.

[RealUnimportant]

I've had more root canals than you'd think could be possible for one human being... If they know their stuff, you shouldn't even realise it's been doe save for the hour or so you have to spend with your mouth gaping open!

[csquared]

Laborcat, you are almost as bad as The Wife. She was so stressed out that the dentists could not work on her. They even tried laughing gas on her. She had to reschedule. She has now survived 5 of them and is only slight;y better.

And all of her post-op pain and discomfort is of her own creation. It is her neck, back jaw, etc. Not the tooth.

Call them up. Let them know about your stress. You are probably not the first that they have had to deal with. Ask what they can do and what you should do. But most importantly, get it done.

Good luck.

[Luna Baby]

I had one on a molar back late 90's/early 2000. Was done by a regular dentist and was a total botch job. She took multiple appointments to get it completed....... after years and years of complaining to my new dentist and him continuing to tell me nothing was wrong, I sought out a new dentist and a specialist.

Specialist agreed that it was a bad job and scheduled a new one. I did pay a little extra to have the "laughing gas" but really all that did was make me not care a bit what they did. So far (3 years later) I'm relatively pain free although I do have some residual issues from the constant grinding I did related to the pain I was dealing with. I had no pain whatsoever during or after the procedure. They offered a script and I refused.

You'll be fine, and if you are nervous, try the gas. It took away my every care.

[laborcat]

I'm going to call tomorrow on break. I was off today but my phone didn't charge last night (cat must have knocked the cord out of the wall) and I used what battery I had left on yet another freaking neighbor issue calling the landlord again. I don't like making calls while it charges because it sounds weird. I still haven't heard back from my regular dentist about more antibiotics so I'll call him first because he opens at seven and I don't think the specialist opens until eight. I've discovered that brushing hurts a lot but letting the toothpaste foam sit on that back tooth seems to soothe the nerve and it lets me go longer between painkillers. Y'all are right, I'm really being a huge baby about the whole thing and it can't be scarier than having babies or getting divorced or giving up alcohol, and I've managed to do all that fairly unscathed. I appreciate everybody chiming in. You don't know how much it means to me for you to give a complete stranger advice. Thanks again.

[OneMoreTime]

Good for you! You'll do just fine.