[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I've had two in the last 3 years. Two badly cracked teeth, probably from bruxing (grinding my teeth) at night.

Both times, the root canal was no problem. The first was a surprise; my regular dentist sent me to a specialist to check how badly cracked my tooth was, and he pretty much said "It's bad; you're getting a root canal right now." My mom had horrible experiences with those, but this was OK. It was just like getting a cavity filled except it took longer. Getting numbed up took longer (and took more shots, but I didn't really feel any after the first) and the drilling took longer.

The second was not a surprise; it went just about the same way.

The first one led to a dental implant. They removed the tooth and let it heal up. Then they threaded a titanium post into my jaw and let that heal up. Then they put a middle part on it, then eventually a crown that is the visible part of the tooth.

The second led to a regular crown. The tooth stayed in place but was ground down a ways. They took a mold and made a crown for the tooth and glued it in place.

--DD