Root Canal, Anyone?

[azsnowman]

BE CAREFUL!!! I had a total of 5 over the years and not to scare you but every single tooth they did SPLIT in half and NOW I'm going in 2 months to have the remaining teeth pulled and going with FULL falsies (yes folks, I will have FAKE ONES like Dolly Parton)!

[Stephanie]

BE CAREFUL!!! I had a total of 5 over the years and not to scare you but every single tooth they did SPLIT in half and NOW I'm going in 2 months to have the remaining teeth pulled and going with FULL falsies (yes folks, I will have FAKE ONES like Dolly Parton)!

Thanks for the warning Dennis!

[coriolis]

Yeah, like Dennis said. I had one Root canal and got the initial filling. I waited a little too long for the crown ($$) and the tooth split in half and had to be pulled. Now the tooth behind it is bothering me and the dentist recommends a root canal on it, with a post and a bridge to the tooth in front of the hole, which bothers me a little already. The whole deal will be about $3,000. I don't have a lot of confidence that the whole project will be permanent. Sheesh, one thing goes wrong, and it all goes down the drain. I'm thinking about just getting my teeth pulled one at a time and eventually getting dentures. I had good teeth until I got addicted to jawbreakers years ago. I broke another tooth on the other side on a jawbreaker, so now I have a gap on the right lower, and the left upper. Neither side is good! I get tempted to get a blob of epoxy and making my own tooth. It would probably be as permanent as anything that costs $3000.

[Stephanie]

Yeah, like Dennis said. I had one Root canal and got the initial filling. I waited a little too long for the crown ($$) and the tooth split in half and had to be pulled. Now the tooth behind it is bothering me and the dentist recommends a root canal on it, with a post and a bridge to the tooth in front of the hole, which bothers me a little already. The whole deal will be about $3,000. I don't have a lot of confidence that the whole project will be permanent. Sheesh, one thing goes wrong, and it all goes down the drain. I'm thinking about just getting my teeth pulled one at a time and eventually getting dentures. I had good teeth until I got addicted to jawbreakers years ago. I broke another tooth on the other side on a jawbreaker, so now I have a gap on the right lower, and the left upper. Neither side is good! I get tempted to get a blob of epoxy and making my own tooth. It would probably be as permanent as anything that costs $3000.

GEEZ!! Jawbreakers! I haven't had those in a long time - my teeth don't need them either.

I definately will be scheduling to get everything taken care of pronto. I've heard of other people having problems with their crowns as well. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Let me know how that "blob" of epoxy works Ed!

[tropicana]

i hope this day never comes for me, i dont ever wanna experience the fear of having a root canal. Id be sick for days and days. Even though i know im sure they do everything to ease that fear and that you wont experience any pain. But I dont want this day to come for me anyways.

-justin-

[Stephanie]

Some people have a MAJOR fear of dentists, justin. You're definately not alone in your feelings!

I've been used to going to the dentist since I was small. They never scared me - the drill gives me the creeps sometimes. One time I made the mistake at looking down at the needle that the dentist was going to use for the novacaine. I was like you're sticking that where???

I hope the day never comes for you either. Just don't chew on any hard candy, JAWBREAKERS, and even those hard sour dough pretzels and keep them clean and healthy!

[DaylilyDawn]

And no half popped popcorn kernels either!

[Miss Mary]

For anyone who has crowns already, watch bagels. My dentist warned me against biting directly down onto them and then the suction they make when you chew. They can pull a crown off. Never knew that before. I would have thought hard candy and nuts would be out but my DDS kept emphasizing bagels (along with salt water taffy, bullseyes candies, etc. which seem obvious). But bagels - who would have thought that?

Before you start needing crowns, ditto on all the hard food items. Excellent advice above.

Here's another tip, sometimes I soften the snack or food for a few minutes, just holding it in my mouth, then I begin chewing. I'm not sure if it's salivia or not that helps, but by the time I chew that snack is much softer. This the way I eat Snyder's sour dough pretzels - let's just I never bite directly down onto them anymore. Not unless I want to risk a big dental bill!

[Jack8631]

It's nice that you have everything under one roof, Steph. My dentist refers me to an Endodonist a good 30 minutes away (for molars, anyway) where you typically wait for hours on end to see somebody. I think hearing the suction and drills from the waiting room is worse than the procedure itself.

Did they put you on some strong antibiotics? If they can reduce the swelling/infection, things go more more smoothly. They can't completely numb an infected tooth (called a 'hot tooth'), and will sometimes do the actual root canal in two parts.

[DanKellFla]

Steph, I have a few root canals. 600 or 800 mgs of Ibuprofin works wonders. When my second son was born, I had to have a root canal. I had two babies in diapers at that time. I was so tired that I fell asleep durring the procedure! For me, the only painful part is getting the credit card swiped at the end. OUCH

[Stephanie]

My dentist could only start the process - he doesn't do root canals himself. They had scheduled me so he could check out the tooth and get the tooth drilled down and put a temporary filling in. I see another dentist on Tuesday for him to complete it and then on to the capping.

My mouth didn't start to hurt until later that night - then it was like all hell broke loose! I did take four ibuprofen (800 mg) which finally let me sleep that night and then again during the next day. It was like my mouth finally figured out something happened to it.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and suggestions!

[azsnowman]

Ibuprofen? Shooooooot, gimme DRUGS, LOTSA DRUGS I'm a WHIMP, I need the narcotics to ease ANY pain (and yes, my shift sargent knows)

[azsnowman]

BTW Stephanie, "OUCH!" Good luck kiddo! I can just HEAR those drills, it sends SHIVERS down my spine, to me, that is the WORST NOISE on the PLANET!!

[weathermom]

Stephanie, I have a mouth full of root canal teeth and it really isn't so bad. If you don't like looking at the tools they use, close your eyes. I really could sleep through a root canal. The only one that I had that was a "pain" was badly infected and they didn't clear up the infection enough before they started the work. If you aren't the type to be freaked out by dentists then you will be fine. Take some ibuprofen before the novocaine wears off and you will be better off, don't wait for any pain to start.

As for cracking, once they are crowned they are ok. I have only had one fall apart and that was over 25 years after the root canal. (Boy am I getting old)

[Miss Mary]

weathermom - you old? LOL! You're not even 40 are you? he he

My dentist offers head phones. They'll tune in any station you want. That drowns out the sounds. They also have to put goggles on me at times and then I have that paper bib, tools attached or hanging out of my mouth. I always think - what a sight I must look like! Another thought that always crosses my mind - please God don't let the power go out.....LOL While the novacaine is working I mean......I used to have a similar thought when I'd get my hair professionally colored - please don't let there be a water main break (my old salon was in a century old historic building, prone to water main breaks). LOL

This will all be over soon Steph. Focus on that!