Category: Health and Wellness
Hi everyone,
For the last couple months, my bottom left molar, which I broke during the night because I grind my teeth sometimes, have been absolutely killing me. The pain spread to my ear, and there was swelling in my jaw. I didn't have the money to go to the dentist until today. Of course, it's infected, and my dentist gave me, along with antibiotics and a pain killer, a referal to an endodentist, because he says I need a root canal. Because it's the molar that needs it, he referred me to the endodentist, which apparently specializes in this.
I've never had a root canal before, so my question to you guys is have any of you had one, and what should I expect?
Thank you.
Jen
Ev
eryone responds to dentistry different. I will tell you that its not the most comfortable of surgeries, but it won't kill you. You won't be eating beef jerky for a little while, but if you have a good dentist, it will be fine I'm sure.
If your worried about it hurting, tell your dentist and he will give you more medication that will lessen the pain.
ah ok. thank you.
I've just heard horror stories and am nervous. <smile> so figured I'd ask.
Jen
Also there's a good chance the nerve tissue is esencially dead in that tooth, but it's still a good idea to get the freezing, because the tooth is still pretty mutch alive, and a highspeed drill can hurt. But with the right amount of freezing you shouldn't feel a thing.
freezing? I guess I didn't give much thought to different numbing agents. I just thought they'd use some form of novicane. What do they do to freeze it?
Thank you.
freezing is a slang term for novocaine. the endodontist can give you laughing gas if you need it too. another reason i have to get that is that i've had so many eye surgeries that the nerves in my face are screwed up some way. when they work on my teeth i feel pain in my eyes. i mean bad pain. so they have to give me shots in my mout and around my eyes. it is a fun thing let me tell you.
as for the root canal, I had one several years ago and the worst part about it was worrying before hand. Oh payin g afterward was painful as well.
the procedure itself was a piece of cake. it's good that you are going to an endodontist because they have special tools that a regular guy might not have. also, afterward they can give you pain meds if you need them. i remember getting a prescription but I think i never filled it. just took a couple tylenol or something.
It's really a very interesting procedure. They guy who did mine explained all about my tooth and the nerve and all that. I love learning about medical stuff so I was in heaven.
ah ok, thank you. I too love to learn about medical stuff. <smile> I hope that they'll use nitrisoxide, but I think that'll probably cost more than I can afford. lol
please let us all know how it goes. i will be praying for you and the dentist
At my dentist, nitrous oxide is free.
When you go to get the procedure done, you can ask whether the laughing gas is free or not.
I will be sure to ask, and turricane, I definitely will let everyone know on this board. <smile> Sucky thing is, that afternoon, after the endontist that morning, I have an appointment for the interview to get my paratransit renewed. I'd reschedule it, but it takes weeks to get an appiontment, so it'll be interesting. lol
Jen
ok I promised to let you all know how my root canal went yesterday. So here it goes.
I've heard horror stories about these things, but honestly, the worst thing was getting all the nerves in the tooth numb. Apparently, ther are 4 nerves in the molar, which would explain my dentists comment about it being detailed and why he doesn't do root canals on the molar. So first he numbed my mouth with the novicane.
Then he jacked my mouth open with a dental dam. That's like a laytex thing that they attach to the back of your teeth to make sure the debris doesn't go down your throat. I panicked at first because I was having a lot of trouble trying to swallow and breath. They kept saying breathe through your nose, but I was still panicking. So he gave me that suction tool to slide around the side and into the back of my mouth behind the damn to suck out saliva. So I used it to make an opening so that when I breathed in the laytex wouldn't try to mold itself to the back of my mouth. lol. So I killed two birds with one stone. So he started drilling and kept hitting a nerve that would not numb. That hurt, but he stopped and numbed it again. But still, when he started, it still hurt. So finally, he found the nerve that wasn't being numbed and stuck the needle directly into the nerve. Now that was the worst part, believe me that hurt. Apparently, because I'd had the pain for so long, 2 months, it was what they call a hot tooth. It was severely inflamed, and the novicane being injected through the gum was doing nothing for it. He had to inject it directly into the nerve. When I went in, I told them that there was a piece of food that I couldn't get out of the tooth no matter how much I flossed. it just would hurt every time I tried. Well it wasn't food, it was inflamed tissue actually sticking up from the tooth. ouch. But after it was all numbed, it was smooth sailing from there. Just the tiredness from keeping your mouth open for an hour and a half. lol. The did some work, then took x-rays and then more work and more x-rays. It was about 5 different times they had to do x-rays. I think they said it was to make sure they got all the nerves out or something. There was one other thing that wasn't painful, but definitely bothersome, and that was when he was using this tool to scrape out the nerves. Every time he scraped upwords, the back of the instrament would hit my top teeth. That gave me a headache.
After the novicane wore off, I was hurting. My jawbone all along that side was hurting, as are the teeth that were on either side of the one that got worked on. It's also still soar when I chew.
I have to go to my dentist in a couple weeks to get the cap for the tooth.
So that's my experience. It's ok after they are able to numb all the nerves.
Jen
good luck with the capping. am so glad it went as well as it did.
I'm glad your root canal went well. I had one when I was ten, and it had to be completed in two appointments. On the first appointment, it hurt, but my dentist tried her best to work with me. The appointment went downhill because I kept saying "Ow!" And my dentist said: "Ya know, Raven, you sound like a kitty-cat when you do that." At that point, I slapped the shit out of her, and she stopped. That's what you get for making fun of an irritated patient in pain, bitch! So anyhow, we scheduled another appointment, and my dentist put me on penicillin for a week. I did take the penicilin, but not as much of it as I was supposed to because it was one of the most horrible medications I've ever taken in my life! It made me throw up each time I took it because the taste was so terrible! But I went to the next appointment a week later, and finally got the damn procedure over with. I just had the tooth crowned back in April, and the appointment went very smoothly.
rofl. That reminds me, at one point, when he kept hitting the nerve with the drill that wasn't numb, apparently I cocked my fist and didn't realize it until the assistant covered my fist with her hand. lol
I'm glad your latest appointment went well. <smile>
Thanks to you all for your kind words. <smile>
Bloody hell, i'm one of those people who'd say, "Knock me out, please," if that option was available. lol I wouldn't want to remember any of it. Glad things went well for you.
lol that's what my best friend said too. Thank you. <smile>