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How bad is a root canal?


Pogo

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Mine were not really painful, at least during the procedure (I did ache a little for a few days afterwards). The worst for me was it was just creepy sitting there for 2 hours while the dentist is digging away at you. That did not hurt but I was ready to be done with it for sure.

 

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The only one that I have had was miserable.  For some reason, I didn't get enough numbing agent all the way down to the end of the root.  They put so much of that stuff in there that my face was numb for 3 days afterward, and I could still feel everything they were doing during that time.  There was a lot of pain and discomfort over the 2 days it took for the procedure to be completed.  Hope this helps.

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I'm a big fan of nitrous.  When I got the crown (on this same tooth) 3 weeks ago, they really skimped on it.  I complained afterward and they took it off the bill.  We'll have that discussion again, but I'm definitely cranking Pantera or some such during the procedure.

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I had three done on front bottom teeth with no anesthesia.  The dentist said it wouldn't help since the nerve had been severed (hit in the face with line drive pitching softball).  My jaw hurt for a couple of days afterwards, other than that, it wasn't that bad.

Edited by Catpfish
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1 hour ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Depends, but really not bad at all. Had one a couple of years ago. the procedure was uncomfortable, but no pain. 

Yep.  Me too.  Had two of them, not really any pain at all.  Was not comfortable taking the narcotic pain pills, so just stuck with ibuprofen.  Dentist did a shitty job with the crown, I ended up swallowing it.  Called her office and asked them what to do- they said bring the crown back in and they'll reattach it...  I pos repped their sense of humor.     

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I had 2 root canals today. I had mine done by an endodontist instead of my regular dentist. I'm not sure how much difference that makes. The procedure itself wasn't bad, not any worse than a filling. I didn't get any nitrous, just lidocaine or whatever local he used. It took about 30 minutes per tooth and I was out of the office in about 90 minutes total.

The pain over the past week has been excruciating and cost me a lot of sleep, so I was looking forward to today. I'm anxiously waiting to see if the pain completely resolves of the next few days. If so, then it's worth every penny.

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3 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Don't need to bitch, just politely ask, knock my ass out please....  They just add it to the bill.  Better living thru chemistry.

I had a couple tell me it's not necessary. A few howls at full volume where other patients could hear and it became necessary.

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Had a tooth pulled and then had a bridge put in over the gap.

Had a root canal done on another tooth.

The ( properly done) root canal was a piece of cake.  Virtually no pain.  Getting that tooth pulled hurt a shit-ton more during and afterwords.

 

never considered getting put under.  I drove myself home after both procedures.

Edited by slorch
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17 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Let me tell you about pain, the procedure following a root canal when it doesn't work. Come back then, and we'll talk then Cochise......

That's honestly what I fear. I expect a little pain during the recovery period, but if my teeth start hurting again like the were last week, I'm gonna be in rough shape.

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1 minute ago, wild_turkey said:

That's honestly what I fear. I expect a little pain during the recovery period, but if my teeth start hurting again like the were last week, I'm gonna be in rough shape.

Yeah it usually doesn't show itself for a year or more.  That procedure did suck, root canals make your mouth sore for a day or so.

This one makes it throb like you've been bashed in the face with a bat for a few hours. They flay your gums back, drill out the tooth, and locate a screw  in your skull or lower jaw to install a crown onto it

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20 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

I had 2 root canals today. I had mine done by an endodontist instead of my regular dentist. I'm not sure how much difference that makes. The procedure itself wasn't bad, not any worse than a filling. I didn't get any nitrous, just lidocaine or whatever local he used. It took about 30 minutes per tooth and I was out of the office in about 90 minutes total.

The pain over the past week has been excruciating and cost me a lot of sleep, so I was looking forward to today. I'm anxiously waiting to see if the pain completely resolves of the next few days. If so, then it's worth every penny.

Using an endodontist is the right answer. They are specialists at it.

I've had two root canals, both by an endodontist, in fact, my dentist no longer performs root canals because of the time and complexity. Both times in and out in an hour.

Always use the gas.

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29 minutes ago, Antidean said:

Using an endodontist is the right answer. They are specialists at it.

I've had two root canals, both by an endodontist, in fact, my dentist no longer performs root canals because of the time and complexity. Both times in and out in an hour.

Always use the gas.

I used an endodontist and it was in and out with no issues. I had an appointment at 6 AM and was driving out of the parking lot by 7 AM. It's definitely worth it to use a specialist.

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Back molar with three roots done the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Procedure was probably worse than my vasectomy!  But, no pain at all after.  Went back last Tuesday to get the crown.  Almost as horrible, and only got a temp crown.  Will get the real one in three weeks.

Most pain was the wallet.  $1,400 with insurance!!!!

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7 hours ago, woohorn said:

If you are in pain now (abscess), the root canal will be an instant relief because it will relieve the pressure of the infection.

This here. Mine was relief from a level of pain that had me wanting to lay across some railroad tracks. Had a slight dull toothache on a Thursday, woke up Friday morning  to a full-blown dumpster fire and couldn't get an appointment until Monday morning. By the time I got into the dentist chair I was close to tears and the second he deadened my jaw it was instantaneous relief. He could have pulled every tooth in my head and given me dentures at that point, I didn't give a shit.

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On 2/4/2019 at 6:14 PM, Onboard 2.0 said:

2 words: sedation  dentistry.  Have theM knock your ass out.

You'll have a sore mouth afterward, but nothing like being awake, and knowing they're drilling into your tooth all the way down to the nerve.  

 

Oh hell no.  I've seen that episode of Seinfeld. No way he needs to wake up with his shirt untucked and see the dentist pulling his pants up.

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23 minutes ago, Hate said:

So did the OP die or just simply get raped while knocked out?  

Neither.  I'm a pussy though.  My wife told me to wait a bit.  The same thing happened to her where they worked on a tooth that became sore afterward.  They told her she might need a root canal then.  After a few weeks, the pain went away.  Mine was scheduled for yesterday morning, but I cancelled it.  I had been living on advil/tylenol for the last few weeks, but I'm starting to taper off.  I only took it once yesterday, so I think nerve or whatever is healing.

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1 hour ago, Pogo said:

Neither.  I'm a pussy though.  My wife told me to wait a bit.  The same thing happened to her where they worked on a tooth that became sore afterward.  They told her she might need a root canal then.  After a few weeks, the pain went away.  Mine was scheduled for yesterday morning, but I cancelled it.  I had been living on advil/tylenol for the last few weeks, but I'm starting to taper off.  I only took it once yesterday, so I think nerve or whatever is healing.

Lol, it doesn't really work that way. but good job continuing to put yourself through needless pain. You are correct though about the first part. 

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I've had 3 root canals...None really hurt any worse than a filing but I am well aware of the fact that I need more pain meds at the spot than the average person.  Since then Ive had two extractions as well.  Still not really painful at all. Just more discomfort than anything.    And I take really good care of my teeth.  My dentist just blames bad genes and chemistry.

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One of my worst experiences.  Kept my eyes open (don't know why) and I could see the endodontist reaching for longer and longer needles... felt like I was in Saw.

Went on for an hour and I bled too much for him to finish so he had to inject some antibiotic and a temp filling and sent me home for a week.  Went back for another 30 min session and the worst pain of the whole ordeal was when he was injecting the warm liquid filling crap and it must've struck the tiniest bit of nerve left over.  I felt that all through my hippocampus. 

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I had 2 root canals today. I had mine done by an endodontist instead of my regular dentist.


To follow up on this, my pain went from a 8-10 severity before the root canal, down to a 2-3 severity immediately after. I took Aleve for a couple days and then I was good to go. No more pain since then. The procedure itself was a a piece of cake compared to the hell I endured for a week leading up to it.

Had temporary crowns put on by my regular dentist this week. She will put on the permanent crowns next week. I didn’t need local anesthetic for the crowns because the teeth were already dead at that point.

Ready to have this all done. It costs a small fortune.
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Best of luck with that Simon and Turkey.  The conclusion for me is that I don't think there was any permanent nerve damage.  The soreness started when I got a crown put on over an old worn down filling.  I think the dentist just inflamed the nerve when he was hammering the shit out of my tooth to get the crown on.  That just took a month or so to heal.  There's still a minor bit of sensitivity, but that's getting better as well.  I'm glad I stuck it out and didn't get what would have been a voluntary root canal.

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Root + Crown coming next week in one sitting. Sometime after that another one is getting extracted and the long process of getting it replaced with an implant. Not too bad price wise for all of it under $2500.00 after insurance. Somehow the rest of my teeth are decay free just the back two molars. Doc said it was most likely development problems and not a hygiene issue. I don't know if that makes me any happier or not.

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On 2/4/2019 at 7:56 AM, Pogo said:

I'm having my first one in a few days.  I've heard they're painful as hell.  Of course, the pain has been pretty bad for the last few weeks when I haven't taken advil in a timely manner.  So what am I in for?

They're nowhere near as bad as Bill Cosby made 'em out to be, if you have a good dentist. (Granted, with his knowledge of novocaine, you'd think he'd know better than that.)

If your dentists fucks up, and by that I mean malpractice-level fuckups (which I've had -- once), it sucks.

The only thing you have to watch out for is that crowns don't last forever, especially on the front teeth. I get about 6 years out of any given crown, then it's back in the office for a new one. I pay more for a cosmetic dentist who can actually match my front teeth color.

Edited by Rimbo
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Got temporary crowns exchanged for permanent crowns today, so this saga is over for me...at least I hope.

In the end I had 4 fillings, 2 didn’t work and needed 2 pulpotomies followed by 2 root canals followed by 2 crowns.

Total cost was about $10k, so not too bad really, merely the cost of a week in St. Barth. Or maybe I could’ve got a Rolex and a Macbook. Or TX-OU tickets for myself and my wife for the next 20 years. It’s nothing really.

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5 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

Heading on in tomorrow for my root canal. I was an idiot and scheduled it in the afternoon so I get to work half a day and get a root canal all in the same day. That sounds like a great day!

It won't be a big deal.

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I might be getting one in a couple of weeks.

I have zero pain right now, but just visited the dentist yesterday for the first time in awhile, and she noticed some weirdness going on in the tooth neighboring a false tooth I have right up front (a tractor tire and rim tipped over on me when I was 10 and drove my face into the concrete, knocking the tooth out).  I have to go to the endodontist and they're acting like they'll do a root canal as the neighboring tooth might possibly be dying.

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