Root Canal, Anyone?

[Stephanie]

YIPPPEEE! I'm having my first one tomorrow!

About 2 years ago, I bit into a hard candy and cracked my molar (yeah, dumb move). My dentist said then that the plug he put in that day will only last so long and eventually I'll need a root canal and a cap. Tomorrow's the day.

Ove the last several months, the tooth hurts when I bite down on it - sometimes to the point of seeing stars. It something cold hit's it....OMG!!!

I went for my semi-annual cleaning 3 weeks ago and told the dentist about it. He said it was time for it to come out.

I've heard that it isn't painful - I'm sure it will feel different having a WHOLE tooth back there (it's the very last one on the top right).

Thank goodness I have dental insurance, though it won't cover the whole thing.

[Miss Mary]

I had one in 1998 and it wasn't painful. I did need novacaine, I think it ended up being 3 shots. And because I was so nervous, I had gas too. What I recall was a lot of manipulating, tugging, pulling and I could feel them screwing the prongs or screw in. It felt very odd but not painful. They gave me a temporary crown so the lab could make a new one but now my dentist makes them in house. Since I have 4 more crowns after I needed this one, I know that info! It takes about 15 minutes to make a crown. Even if your dentist doesn't offer this option, you'll likely only need 2 appts.

You'll do fine. I had heard horror stories about root canals but it wasn't so in my case. It wasn't exactly enjoyable but once the novacaine kicked in and definitely the gas (whoa baby!) I was sitting pretty.

Good luck. Let us know how this goes!

[CajunMama]

I had one a few years back. My top right front tooth. My dentist is awesome. I never felt anything. I had been complaining about shooting pains but he'd take xrays and couldn't find anything. My tooth was changing color also, becoming darker than the other teeth. Finally the xray showed something. He found an infection. Did the root canal, bleached the tooth from the inside...not a problem since.

Good luck tomorrow!

[Stephanie]

Thanks guys!

I remember when I had my one wisdom tooth pulled, there was alot of "manipulating and tugging". I also had alot of novacaine so I didn't feel that - until I got home.

There's a first time for everything. They said that my appointment will take an hour - it's scheduled for 7:30 tomorrow morning and then I'll head to work after that.

[JonathanBelles]

Im dreading that day. I am completely immune to Novocaine. I had to have a filling done and they put 6 shots in, I waited for over an hour and a half and nothing. He finally decided to just do it. OUCH!! lol

[southerngale]

I've never had a root canal, but I have had a couple of wisdom teeth pulled. Good luck, Steph. I'm sure you'll be fine.

[Stephanie]

Im dreading that day. I am completely immune to Novocaine. I had to have a filling done and they put 6 shots in, I waited for over an hour and a half and nothing. He finally decided to just do it. OUCH!! lol

UGH!!!

Thanks Kelly!

[Cookiely]

I had a root canal done about 47 years ago on one of my front teeth. The worst part of the whole thing was having a rubber mask over my entire face the whole time. The dentist attached clips to the tooth and the rubber sheet covered my face. It was to protect my eyes from infection if I remember right. I don't remember having much pain and I didn't get any Novocaine at all because their was an abscess. Hope everything goes well for you. I'm sure the procedure has improved a thousand times since I had mine done.

[Stephanie]

Thanks Cookiely.

I can't even IMAGINE not having novacaine for anything! "Shivers" at the thought!

[Coredesat]

I had a root canal done last month. Amazingly, I was not in any pain, ever, though it might be due to the fact that the tooth was dead.

[chadtm80]

Nothing worst then tooth paine Steph.. NOTHING.. Tooth aches and ear aches are just the pits. Been there done that. I have a few false teeth. Just think.. once you get it done.. you will be pain free

[sunny]

The way it was told to me is if it is done right, it should not hurt because they are removing the nerve. I hope that is the case Steph and all goes well - good luck

[Miss Mary]

That's what my dentist has said too. Any work I have done on my old root canal tooth is painless. I can't feel a thing except for manipulation. In fact, I'm sitting here with my third crown on that old tooth (root canal). The original prong didn't hold up well and now I'm on the second one. But I have very little root structure above this third crown so it's held on good but not great either. I am chewing on the other side now b/c if it comes off once more, then I will need to have it pulled and sacrifice a tooth next to it, for another crown. What I'll end up with would be 3 crowns in a row, constructed into a bridge, but the middle one wouldn't have anything above it (the old root canal tooth), they would pull it. But I could eat anything on that side again. The bill for this procedure would be close to $3000. We don't have dental insurance so this is why I am chewing on the other side. Just a habit now but who knows how long this will last. I just hope when the crown finally fails, DDS said it will, I hope the timing is good - budget wise and availability. Watch it go before a major holiday or something. The flip side would be I could elect to have this all done now, while I'm off work. But that bill is what is stopping me. Why spend $3000 when you don't really have to?

Dental problems....sigh. I joke I'm going to start eating baby food!

Hope all went well Steph!

[DaylilyDawn]

I can never have my wisdom teeth pulled due to a problem I have. My wisdom teeth are imbedded in my jaw bone and are turned upside down with the roots pointing up. I have seen the x-rays of it and know that if I do have a problem with pain from them it will require extensive surgery by a very experienced surgeon.

[j]

Insist on Percodan. I'm not trying to scare you, but you will need them.

[chadtm80]

Definatly will want some loritabs or percocets.. Trust the man. lol

[sunny]

Insist on Percodan. I'm not trying to scare you, but you will need them.

Always a good idea to have backup Vicodin ain't bad either

[Tstormwatcher]

My wife is having 2 root canals done tomorrow, 2 more at a later date. All her teeth pulled and snap in dentures installed later all at a cost of almost $13,000. And no my insurance will hardly pay for anything . Her teeth are in real bad shape so I will go deep into dept for her. But this is cheap compared to what she really wanted which called for implant, bridges and numerous crowns at a cost of $35K to $40K. I should have been a dentist.

[BreinLa]

Root canals aren't as bad as some people make them out to be, like sunny said they take the nerve no more pain ahhhh had one done before never had to take even an advil.

[Stephanie]

Insist on Percodan. I'm not trying to scare you, but you will need them.

That is some good, stuff!

Well, I had my tooth PREPPED for the root canal. My dentist doesn't do root canals, but another dentist in the office does them. I remember that there was some confusion when they were making my appointment originally and had me down for one dentist instead of my regular dentist. My dentist said that they probably wanted me to have me see him first, check it out and go from there. That's fine with me.

ANYWAY, he did a lot of grinding down of the tooth and I have a filling in there. I'll go back next Tuesday for the remaining part of the root canal to be done and then on to the crown.

When he went to numb my mouth before he put the novacaine needle in, the swab with the medication was sitting right next to that tooth. It really started to hurt then!

Anyway, thank GOD for novacaine! The only thing that bothers me now is where he put the needle in. It feels weird having about 1/4 of a tooth left, but at least it's my back molar.

Thanks gang for the good wishes! The total cost for all of it will be about $2,000, my insurance will pay $1,200. It's ONLY money! At least I HAVE dental insurance though.