root canal or tooth removed? :(

madma

Hi all


Just in from the dentist, had a. Xray few weeks back went in for 1st treatment I've 4 treatments all toghether as I have t been to dentist in year and all can be fixed except 1

I already have had 1 tooth taken out (upper right about 5th in)

i've had realy bad pain over weekend on the tooth which I don't know what to do because it's te 3rd in from the back on bottom left and it'd a big tooth..
The dentist asked what I want to so he has given me contact details for a friend of his that can look after it based in town (root canal)

Really don't know what to do and the pain I've been getting is bad as the old filling on the tooth is exposed as the inner tooth has gone.. Dentist said he'd email the person a I'd need it done quickly like this week if I go ahead with it

dunno what to do

sorry for the long post

DublinDilbert

Sounds like your dentist is recommending you go to an endodontist who specialises in root canals. Did your dentist give you anti biotics and pain killers?

I was in a similar situation a few weeks ago, the pain was unbelievable. When I went in my dentist and he done the first stage root canal (basically clean out the tooth), then anti biotics to kill the infrection. He then done the root canal over about 3 visits and finished it off with a root filling. He did say I could go to an endodontist and have it done in one go. It worked out at about €500 all in, endo would of been a good bit more.

The other option is to have the tooth taken out, but you might regret this and implants are very expensive if you ever want a tooth there again.

Oral Surgeon

madma wrote: »

Hi all


Just in from the dentist, had a. Xray few weeks back went in for 1st treatment I've 4 treatments all toghether as I have t been to dentist in year and all can be fixed except 1

I already have had 1 tooth taken out (upper right about 5th in)

i've had realy bad pain over weekend on the tooth which I don't know what to do because it's te 3rd in from the back on bottom left and it'd a big tooth..
The dentist asked what I want to so he has given me contact details for a friend of his that can look after it based in town (root canal)

Really don't know what to do and the pain I've been getting is bad as the old filling on the tooth is exposed as the inner tooth has gone.. Dentist said he'd email the person a I'd need it done quickly like this week if I go ahead with it

dunno what to do

sorry for the long post

Hi there,
Like most things- your choices depend on a few things;

The pain;
if it is a spontaneous pain brought on by a hot/cold stimulus that is sudden and there is relief when the stimulus is removed, not nocturnal pain waking you at night and not tender to bite on- most likely a regular filling will sort it

if it is a constant throbbing pain with/ without any cause, keeping you awake at night, with/without tenderness to bite on with/ without gum/jaw/facial swelling then the tooth is dead or dying
In this case, you have 2 options; root canal or extraction

The tooth;
sounds like it is a lower molar tooth
not essential for your smile but not nice to lose either
have you lost many other teeth and will the loss of this tooth affect your chewing capacity?
Is the tooth a long term keeper- usually these teeth are already in pretty bad shape- do you want to spend a fortune on it and then it may all fail in a few years because a crown is not retentive etc- your dentist can advise on this one

Budget;
Molar root canal is about €600-€800, you then need a large fill and a crown to maintain the integrity of the tooth (another €1000 or so)
If funds are tight- you may be best get rid of this tooth and concentrate on saving all the others with regular fillings- don't spend all your money on this one tooth and have nothing else to save the others...

Another option is to extract the tooth, sort out the other treatment and place a dental implant to replace this missing tooth at a later stage- these days, a fully restored dental implant is only marginally more expensive than a molar root canal, core filling and crown combo and in my humble opinion has a much greater long term prognosis in most cases(i'm sure the endodontists on boards will disagree)

Hope this helps or maybe confuses the issue more...
Key point; spend wisely-

• save the most teeth and the teeth with the best long term prognosis with the cash you have
• a root canal, fill, crown combo may or may not be the best option, ask your dentist if the money is best spent on an implant ie €2000 to save the tooth that may last 10 years is not as good as an implant that costs €2500 and lasts 20 years plus (crown may need replacement after this period- not the bony implant)

All the best,
OS

madma

Thanks for the replies!

I got it taken out in the end, the dentist even said it was that bad that it was a 50/50 if it could be saved or not....

Just gotta take good care of the rest of my teeth!