Anybody ever needed to have a root canal done?

I've had two teeth that the dentist tried to save with fillings but it started to hurt when I would eat. He wound up pulling the two teeth. I had a partial made and thought that would solve the problem. Now about fifteen years later the partial is wearing down and the the upper teeth is shifting down. Maybe I should have had the root canal. But the dentist said at the time the root canal can fail after a while anyway.Best thing is to take care of the teeth with fluoride toothpaste and clean between them. After site is always 20 20

Dental prostheses don't last forever. They wear out in time just like a car-especially removable prostheses.

Like everything else, your mouth and teeth change too. Do what you can to save your teeth!

I don't really consider myself a medfet, but I have had my share of root canals. None were particularly fun. I do recommend nitrous oxide (laughing gas) if available. Enough of that stuff and you really don't care what the dentist is up to.

Agracier, Thanks for asking the question about how my dog responded with my next root canal. I was not so nervous the second time, so the dentist did not give me as much nitrous oxide. I also left Miss Sudden Guard dog at home the second time. She did not react differently to me the second time. It was only the first time when this sudden new smelling person (me) was trying to "break" into her car 😃.

Lady Teddy, always the devoted dog lover

I'[ve had several done. Waste of time and money. Dentists wear gloves and masks for a reason. After the third root canal and crown, and 10,000 dollars down the drain, and that was from two different dentists, and I lost all three, I opted for a full upper denture and I have never been sorry! I have a beautiful smile. So I'm told. I don't even know the things is there. It isn't any different than wearing a prostesis if you loose a leg. I eat anything that comes down the road, or flies above it! :-)

Years ago, when I first met my dentist he said, "My philosophy is that pain only builds character in the Marine Corp, not the dentist's office." We get along beautifully.

OK folks, I spoke about this before but I feel it is worth repeating. I got 2 extractions, 3 root canals, three crowns, five implants and a five tooth bridge done in first class conditions by excellent dentists for $7800.00 USD.

I've only had one root canal, it was not painful at all.

OK folks, I spoke about this before but I feel it is worth repeating. I got 2 extractions, 3 root canals, three crowns, five implants and a five tooth bridge done in first class conditions by excellent dentists for $7800.00 USD.

Where was this?

I don't think you could even get that fee schedule in a dental school.

International Dental Clinic, San Jose, Costa Rica. Full contact information available by PM as I am not advertising any product or service.

Yes and I was awake when I had it just my mouth was numb crazy feeling when they drill down

Root canals are vastly over rated as a source of agony or really much pain. Not painful at all but mighty gross is having a needle stuck in your eyeball while you are barely sedated. A root canal is just no big deal!

I guess compared to bone marrow biopsies and intraocular injections root canals pale in comparison. There's something about dental pain which terrifies me though.

I was 13 when I had my first and only real sports accident - broke off several front teeth colliding with someone else's helmet playing football. That was my introduction to root canals since the nerves were still in the broken off roots ... this happened in the US and truly the dentist made a huge and unnecessary production of it all. The better to fleece my parents i suspect. There was drilling and temporary fillings, disinfections, refilling again, x-rays galore and interminable dentist visits. But, the process didn't really hurt, though as a 13 year old I distrusted every moment of it.

In comparison, I also broke a tooth some 10 years ago while in Spain, up in the mountains near the French border. It also necessitated a root canal as the nerve was exposed. So off to the only local dentist. He turned out to be French, traveling weekly between the two countries. It was boiling hot and he was dressed in a white medical overall of sorts, arms bare and chest partially and he looked like John Cleese's maniac twin brother. But he gave me an injection to numb the nerve and then it was over and done in hardly more than 10-15 mins without any discomfort on my part except for the heat. And he charged 55 euros for the whole thing. One of the most efficient dentists I've ever been too and never felt a thing.

Root canals are vastly overrated as sources of pain. Unless maybe you are talking about your wallet (in the US) ... 😃 😃

I've had two root canals. The first was well...I guess you could call it a sports injury haha. My high school had a muggle quidditch team thanks to me and some friends. And I broke a front tooth during practice. Wound up needing a root canal for that. Then last year I broke my molar on a popcorn kernel. I didn't see s dentist for it for months because I didn't have insurance. Then the pain from it got so bad when more of the tooth broke off that I had to see one no matter what. It was a legitimately miserable process spanning 5 appointments. 😢

I have had 2 root canals.The first was when I was a teenager. I was a clumsy kid, and i tripped and hit my front tooth on a doorknob. It chipped, then turned black. My mother kept telling me to brush my teeth, and when she realized (this was pretty quick) that it was not something on my tooth, I went to the dentists. (For the record, I hate dentists) He examined it and said the impact killed the tooth, so he did a root canal and bleached the tooth. Just before my senior prom, I had the chip fixed. (That was no big deal, since I couldn't feel the tooth anyway.) To this day, when I brush my teeth, you can see the color difference between my two front teeth.

The second was in the Navy. Somehow, I broke one of my molars, but there was enough left that they didn't advise pulling it (Although it was broken fairly close to the gum line.) The tooth was dead, so they did a root canal and made a crown out of dental silver. Shortly after leaving active duty, the silver crown broke. It was never a good option, but the Navy doesn't like to spend money on gold crowns unless absolutely necessary. Also, I would have had to be fitted with a temporary crown, then make several visits back to Dental, and building the crown from dental silver meant one visit. (That way I could spend more time on duty.)

Anyhoo, when I got out, i went to a civilian dentist. After the usual putting down of Military Medicine (very common among doctors and dentists who never put on a uniform) I was fitted for a permanent crown. The dentist says "We have this new cement that should hold it well, since there's only a nub of tooth left." The "new and improved" cement lasted about six months, and the crown fell out. I went back, and he had another type of new cement that was supposed to be the strongest available. Within two months, I was back to have the crown re-cemented on. This hot-shot civilian dentist said "Well, I'll use normal cement, but I don't expect it to hold. If the crown comes off again, we'll have to do surgery to get out the tooth stub."

That was more than 25 years ago, and the crown is still firmly in place!

^^^^ Two things:

1--If the tooth you chipped and had root canal treatment on has most of its own tooth structure, you could probably have a porcelain laminate made to improve the color.

2--Those "new cements" are very good, but their application is very technique sensitive. Screw up one of the five or six steps, and it won't last.

Dinner conversation at my in-laws for 25 years should allow me to receive an honorary DMD degree.

Those "new cements" are very good, but their application is very technique sensitive. Screw up one of the five or six steps, and it won't last.

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New cements may be very good, but my goodness, with my first crowns at 13 years old in the 1960s, the cement was so bad I think it must have loosened at least once a year. Couldn't even bite into an apple except sideways and corn on the cob was for me corn-cut-from-the-cob.

And sometimes parts of the rest of the tooth would come away when the cement loosened and that necessitated yet more dental work ... the never ending story.

I have had two root canals in my life. The first one was about 15 years ago. I was in a karate tournament and was kicked in the face. It was my fault because I left my face open. Anyway I ended up with one tooth that broke completely off and one that was cracked. I had the root canal done by a dentist who's daughter was on my softball team that I was coaching. It was painless to my surprise and he didn't charge me a cent. So that part was painless too. Plus I was in nursing school at the time, all of our kids were friends, and like I said, I was the coach for both of his girls. I offered to pay and he refused payment. He told me that he did it as a professional courtesy.

The second root canal I had done was last year. It was painful and expensive. IT is something that I will NEVER go through again the way I had this one done. I hate dentists first of all, and with good reason. Remember I grew up in the middle of Amishville USA. When I was 13 I had 12 baby teeth pulled with no pain medication. That dentist believe that baby teeth didn't have deep roots or significant nerve endings so pulling them didn't hurt. BULLSHIT!!! Anyway so I told my dentist that I would need to be sedated for a root canal and she told me that in my area the oral surgeons don't sedate completely but do a conscious sedation. She insured me that it wouldn't hurt and I wouldn't remember. So I went to this oral surgeon. They specialize in pain free dentistry. He promised me that it wouldn't hurt and I wouldn't remember. I trusted him. And I will say that he is a very nice guy, and I believe he is a great dentist professionally speaking. It's not his fault that I have a very sensitive mouth and don't react well to most medications. Anyway most dentist can use I believe a 30 percent to 70 percent ratio for Nitrous. Oral surgeons can use a 50/50 combo. They gave me 2 pills which were old school sleeping pills I believe. They were Halcyon. I was to take one at night and one an hour before I got there. I have to be honest with you. In the moment I was receiving it I didn't know what was going on. My oldest daughter was with me and told me that I did okay for what I was having done. He called me later in the evening and asked me if I remembered the joke that he told me. I couldn't. He gave me 20 percocets and an envelope filled with Advil before I left. After the numbing medication wore off my jaw was so sore. I had internal bruising on the inside of my mouth from the mouth brace they put in my mouth to keep my mouth open too. I used up all of my Percocets. When they were gone I was a week out and I was still having a lot of pain. So I went back. He told me that he had completely destroyed or removed or whatever they do to the nerve. He explained that sometimes it takes a while for the nerve to retract back all the way down. So he gave me another 20 or so Percocets. I still sometimes have some discomfort when I chew something hard on that tooth. It has a crown on it currently and feel totally natural, it looks natural too. But here is the down side and why I will never have another root canal done that way. About a week after my root canal, about the time I was back in the office for more pain medications and to find out why I was still hurting, the memories of what happened during my procedure started coming back to me. Over time I am pretty sure that I remember everything that happened. I remember being in so much pain. I remember them having to put the brace in my mouth and fighting against it. Also of them making my daughter leave because I was in so much pain and squeezing her hand so hard that I was making her cry. I remember struggling and being in so much pain but not being able to do anything about it. I still have bad nightmare's about that. So if I ever have to get another root canal done in the future I will drive the hour to Columbus and go to someone who uses Propofol and Ketamine or Propofol and something else. But I refuse to ever go through that again.

Mashie

Never had one. Hope to never need one. From some of the stories I've heard, if I did need one, it might be easier to just shoot me.

New cements may be very good, but my goodness, with my first crowns at 13 years old in the 1960s, the cement was so bad I think it must have loosened at least once a year. Couldn't even bite into an apple except sideways and corn on the cob was for me corn-cut-from-the-cob.

And sometimes parts of the rest of the tooth would come away when the cement loosened and that necessitated yet more dental work ... the never ending story.

From what I have learned, it is the geometry, parallelism and length of the walls of the tooth that keeps crowns on, not the cement. The cement is a sealer. It sounds like you went to a lousy dentist who couldn't prepare teeth well. And if you don't use a good, clean and dry cementing technique, the cement won't hold up.

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Mashie, you have my sympathies. No one should endure what you were forced to.

Remember I grew up in the middle of Amishville USA. When I was 13 I had 12 baby teeth pulled with no pain medication. That dentist believe that baby teeth didn't have deep roots or significant nerve endings so pulling them didn't hurt. .

Amish don't even believe it's proper to use buttons on clothes ...I wouldn't trust their ideas or ideas influenced by them as far as I could throw a buggy and horse ...

No wonder you hate dentists ...

Never had one. Hope to never need one. From some of the stories I've heard, if I did need one, it might be easier to just shoot me.

It might be cheaper and less painful if you bought a ticket to a nice foreign country and had the work done there - make it a combined vacation and medical savings outing ... I wasn't kidding when I said I paid all of 55 euros for a root canal in Spain. That was without any replacement work ... but still ...

Mashie you had to have all those deciduous teeth pulled? I thought they would be long gone by thirteen. How strange!

I had a root canal performed about a year ago. The stage was set about four years before that with a common tooth ache. My regular dentist referred my to an Endodontist. He tested and tested and said he would do the root canal but did not think I was ready. Went through another incident; same thing. Apparently, pollens tended to make it worse. It finally reached the end of the rope, my rope, and with great trepidation, fear, anxiety, worry, etc., I went in and had it done. It was less painful than having a cavity filled by my regular dentist. Go figure.

Pollens, allergies and sinus infections/inflammation will exacerbate and at times mimic tooth pain in the upper teeth.

Liquidsky, I think if I remember correctly that was part of the problem. They should have been gone but were not. It seems to me like I remember the dentist telling my mom that after looking at the x-rays my baby teeth were just hanging there and my adult teeth were right behind them but couldn't advance because the baby ones were being stubborn. I think he thought maybe they really were just about ready to come out so the nerves should have already been dead, but I can assure you they were not. Oddly enough my adult teeth did advance quickly after that. I was back in there having all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed when I was 16. I remember the dentist telling his assistant that it was one of the strangest things he's ever seen. Having a patient 3 years earlier having to have a ton of baby teeth pulled out and then having not one but all 4 wisdom teeth coming in so early. For those he did numb me up and I didn't have any pain during or really after. I have heard others talking about how bad it was when they had their wisdom teeth out and I didn't have any of those issues. My oldest daughter consequently enough still had her baby canine tooth on the right side until she was 21. It finally fell out and her adult one grew in. Our current dentist after looking at the x-rays said her tooth was there and would come down when it was ready, and she was right, it did.

Mashie

Correct Susie. Sinusitis is the classic. Never forget that an acute MI can produce referred pain to the teeth also. My father had this symptom when he had heart attacks.

I was petrified when I was told I needed one. After speaking to a dental assistant friend, she assured me that it is often actually less uncomfortable than having a cavity filled; that the pain commonly associated with a root canal comes from abscess which I was on ABX for week prior to. Sure enough, the procedure was easy and pain free - both during and after.

I slept through the only root canal I have had. They woke me to sit me up for the X-rays and let me go back to sleep when I laid back. Not bad painful at all!

I had a root canal about a year ago.

At the news that I will need to have that done I wasn't happy at all. I didn't know what to expect or what was going to be like, but it turned out pretty well.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The worst part was getting the numbing medication shot in. Seeing seringes and needles gives me a certain level of anxiety but once that's done and I don't feel any kind of pain, they can do whatever they want 😃)

After getting that shot, everything was numb and besides being uncomfortable by having all those things stuck in my mouth, it was ok. They had a tv in the room and while dentist and assistant were doing their job, I was watching Real Housewifes 😃