Tell me about your root canal

[NY65912]

Sedation dentistry. I pay the $$ to go to sleep. IV in, me out. I got a root canal, extraction and 2 fillings in one session. The best dental experience possible.

My wife has had root canals and the doc that she goes to has done them in about 45 min start to finish. No pain and she was very comfortable with zero meds.

Not me, I like the meds.

[on2wheels52]

Next one's the first one.
A pretty reliable source said to do all you can to avoid having a tooth pulled.
Jim

[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

[imcarthur]

I just had my 5th or 6th done 2 weeks ago. No big deal. For pain before you can get in, demand Toradol. I never get gas or full knock out.

Ian

[fintstone]

I have had several. No big deal if the dentist is good. best part is...you will never have hot or cold pain there again. I have a couple of teeth where the dentist "heroically" avoided a root canal and they have hurt ever since. Give me the root canal every time if the cavity or break is deep.

The first one I got must have been hurting for so long that I did not notice until the root canal. It was like a background noise that you heard for years that was suddenly silenced. Didn't even realize it hurt before that. Great feeling.

[Gogar]

I have one, piece of cake.


One important word to me was ENDODONTIST, my regular dentist sent me to the endodontist for the 'drilling/filling' part, and it was more than half of the bill.


And it was worth every penny. That dude was smooth and had all the right tools and the hip new instant x-ray machine and it was very easy.

I got a prescription for vicodin and didn't even bother to pick it up. Not my thing.

[89911]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Some how I have made it to 55 years of age without getting a root canal...

I wish I could claim it is because of my excellent dental hygiene but I think it is more to do with genetics and just being lucky to be born with strong teeth.

However at my last checkup I mentioned to my dentist that one of my back teeth is becoming more sensitive to cold and even cool temperatures... he took some ex-rays and said it had a very old filling and some minor cracks but nothing too bad... but if it is causing me pain... I may need.... A ROOT CANAL!

Are they no big deal or a major pain?

Thanks in advance.

It's the old saying, get one and it goes well you tell 5 people. Get one and you have problems, you tell 50. See a qualified endodontist and you should be good. And your symptoms sound kind of vague and common, something every other patient reports. I wouldn't worry about it for now.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Aw crap...and I can't edit the title

Someone did, but they failed to cover up the evidence.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by nostatic

With mine they did the root canal like 15-20 years ago with a crown but evidently didn't get all of the nerve. It has been acting up (and I think is causing other symptoms like eye pressure and headaches) so they said they need to go in a second time and get rid of the rest of the nerve.

Some roots are not accessible, therefore they hope the remaining nerve tissue won't bother you. Sometimes it don't and sometimes it do.

The method for getting at one of those blind roots is through the side of the gum. Ask me how I know.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by NY65912

Sedation dentistry. I pay the $$ to go to sleep. IV in, me out. I got a root canal, extraction and 2 fillings in one session. The best dental experience possible.

My wife has had root canals and the doc that she goes to has done them in about 45 min start to finish. No pain and she was very comfortable with zero meds.

Not me, I like the meds.

This is exactly what I do. I had six between the teeth fillings, two crowns and two root canals done during one sedation session. Best money I ever spent. I remember a chalky white liquid in the IV and that was the last thing I remember.

[targa911S]

had one last week. $1000.00 later no big deal. They numbed me so bad it took 6 hours to go away. Don't wait. Once it gets infected it will really hurt and take days to get back to normal.

[A930Rocket]

I've had my front right three teeth done 6-7 times each over a period of 40 years. Some were a peice of cake and others were terrible. All depends on the doc doing it. A root canal specialist is the way to go.

[look 171]

The drilling was no big deal, but all those thing they use to keep you mouth open was killing me. that was the worst part. didn't feel a thing. That was my first one.

[oldE]

I've had a couple.
The first one was funny in retrospect. I was in the chair and was interested in the procedure and was mentally following along:
She is drilling through the crown of the tooth....now that is a rinse..... now she is getting into the pulp....the rasp is to remove the pulpy mater........OH OH ! I had to think about taking apart and re-indexing the rear suspension of the old E to stop thinking about what was going on inside my mouth.
The smell of the acid used to destroy any organic material inside the cavity was interesting.
All in all, no problem.

Best
Les

[89911]

Speaking of smells there is none so distinct as that when you open up a dead tooth. I'm thinking roadkill left in a dumpster for a week or two. The inside of a tooth become a hollow empty cavity full of this gas that trying to escape. Let it go on and it eventually gets into the soft tissue and you get some swelling. Ok todays my day off

[1990C4S]

I had two done at 8AM a few months ago. I was at work by 10AM. No issues.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by 89911

It's the old saying, get one and it goes well you tell 5 people. Get one and you have problems, you tell 50. See a qualified endodontist and you should be good. And your symptoms sound kind of vague and common, something every other patient reports. I wouldn't worry about it for now.

Got refereed to endodontist, check on that, he has all the cool high tech stuff.

Will see if they have gas.

I'm down playing the pain, like someone said it is just like background noise, the tooth has been badly cracked for years, can't bite down on anything hard on that side... and on a bad day ever room temp water will cause pain... anything with ice, furgetaboutit.

Thanks for the replies!

[fuelie600]

Originally Posted by Gogar

I have one, piece of cake.


One important word to me was ENDODONTIST, my regular dentist sent me to the endodontist for the 'drilling/filling' part, and it was more than half of the bill.


And it was worth every penny. That dude was smooth and had all the right tools and the hip new instant x-ray machine and it was very easy.

I got a prescription for vicodin and didn't even bother to pick it up. Not my thing.

+1

Don't put it off, I had to go back for an Apicoectomy. (They open your gum and take the bottom of the root off.) The abscess had eroded the root tip to the point the root canal wasn't enough. No fun.

[craigster59]

I had one done here. They have a row of cubicles all with the chair, microscope, computerized x ray w/ flatscreen and fibre optic camera.

Took all of 45 min, no pain. MUCH easier than getting a cavity filled. I know it's out of your way, but maybe you could get it done on a Friday and make it a 'weekend getaway". Timothy Jue was my doc, great guy.
Ventura Endodontics

[nostatic]

I have an appt with the endodontist next week. Party.