Had a root canal treatment today.

notaplumber

Hi all,:D

Just had a root canal treatment completed today:eek:

I had a filling on the same tooth, a molar last year, the dentist at the time saying that I may need a root canal treatment in the future as the decay had reached the root.

Anyhow, last week, experienced serious pain on the side of my face that the tooth is..... Both a throbbing pain in the tooth/gum area, and a bad stabbing pain all the way from my nose to my ear, with associated headache but only on the 'tooth side'.

Made an appointment to see an endodontist who initially removed the filling, and put something on the nerve ending to calm it down.. She then placed a temporary filling in the tooth until my 2nd visit . That in itself ended the excruciating pain I was experiencing.

I returned today, and to be honest was quite fearful, not a fan of dentists, have a bad gag reflex, and hate the sound of the drill, and that 'sucking machine', whatever it's called.

Anyhow, I have to say it was not a bad experience at all.... I'd rather be doing something else, but hey, it was not at all as bad as expected.

Firstly, had to have 3 anaesthetic injections to ensure I felt no pain... Of course the only injection that hurt at all was the first one, the other two were obviously numbed by the first.

Then a small metal clasp was put on my tooth, again I felt absolutely nothing.... And then the dental dam was placed over this metal clasp and left to rest over my mouth....*

The temporary filling I had on my first visit, (the previous day) was removed using a dril, followed by a little more drilling, some very slow drills, then the usual high pitch drill.

An x ray was taken and then using small files, the endodontist removed the three roots, and again, there is absolutely no pain, the only thing u feel is pressure, but really it's nothing to be concerned with.

The tooth was then rinsed out and then a series of what looked like thin gel tubes were placed into each of the three hollows left by the roots removal.

These were then melted into the tooth cavity, using a very small tool, which heated the gel inserts.

Another x ray was taken, I'm assuming to ensure the whole of the cavity was filled with these tubes.. I reckon about 15 in total were inserted.

The endodontist then used what looked like a small hand held item which I believe injected some form of liquid into the cavity.

A final filling was put in the cavity, and this was filed down using the drill.


And that was that.

The whole visit took 90 minutes.

The only uncomfortable parts of the procedure was the initial injection, and having to keep your mouth open:pac: for close to 90 minutes although there are plenty of opportunities to relax your mouth while the endodontist is preparing x ray equipment etc.

There was no pressure whatsoever on me to keep my mouth open, other than when the drill was in my mouth!!:-)

There was ample opportunities for me to swallow, and if the endodontist was about to do something to the tooth, I would just raise my hand, and she'd would give me time to swallow.


Overall it was really not a big event, even tho, as stated I wouldn't be a fan of dentists:-)

A few tips u may find useful,,,,,,

Firstly, the dental dam is the best part of the procedure, it immediately eliminates the whole gagging, pieces of tooth falling into your mouth, that damn 'sucking machine' etc... Why regular dentists don't use it for normal filling etc I don't know,... It really does make the whole experience a whole lot easier. Initially the taste of rubber is off putting but that passes after a minute or two.

*....Even though u have a piece of thin rubber placed over your mouth, u can still easily breath through your mouth, but I'd suggest just breathing through your nose.

Bring an iPod/iPhone etc, and with the endodontist's permission feel free to put in your earphones, and listen to your favorite music, not only will it cut out the technical jargon between the endodontist and her/his assistant, but it should also help drown out the sound of the drill etc, and help you relax a little.

As stated the whole procedure took no more than 90 minutes.

I attended an endodontist in Dublin and will be happy to recommend her if you pm me.

The price, was not cheap at €750, but I wanted to make sure it was done properly, by a highly experienced endodontist, and having done research beforehand I was very happy that this was the case.

Note that you also elligible to 20% tax relief on the cost.(The assistant will fill in all the required paperwork for you).

Also note that a crown is needed about a month after this root canal treatment procedure.


Hope this helps..

Further points added Feb 22nd.

ADDITIONAL info relating to comments further down the page, as i have yet to figure out how to Quote other's posts:(

I really did find the dental dam the best part as it prevents gagging etc... I'd describe it as a piece of very thin latex, the size of the palm of your hand, a tiny corner is placed around the tooth to be worked on and the other corners of the latex are placed around what is best described as a small plastic picture frame... this "Picture frame" then just rests on your mouth, from the bottom of your nose to your chin. It's purpose as far as I can see is to act as a bag for any pieces of tooth enamel/pulp that are drilled, along with preventing any of this debris from reaching the back of your throat.

At no time was a metal clip placed on my lip as described by "Username123", and I was always able to close my mouth as needed.(Although I did experience something similar when I had my teeth whitened in Vietnam in 2006.... Now that was not a pleasant experience!!)

The whole procedure did take 90 minutes, in fact probably a little less as the endodontist had to leave the room for about 10 minutes to speak with another patient, I just continued listening to my ipod:):)

As for a crown being needed and when, I was informed that due to it being a molar, a crown should be placed on it within a month as molars are put under a lot of physical pressure when you eat, and because the tooth itself has been weakened by the procedure, it's best not to risk having it crack.

"Nardog" asked if any dentist can perform a root canal treatment... my dentist said that they themselves don't do root canals on anything but front teeth, and as a result referred me to a specialist.

Oh and finally, it's being 24 hours since the treatment, and I have only a slight dull pain that doesn't warrant taking painkillers for.

username123

notaplumber wrote: »

Firstly, the dental dam is the best part of the procedure, it immediately eliminates the whole gagging, pieces of tooth falling into your mouth, that damn 'sucking machine' etc... Why regular dentists don't use it for normal filling etc I don't know,... It really does make the whole experience a whole lot easier. Initially the taste of rubber is off putting but that passes after a minute or two.

Amazing how different people perceive these things. For me the dental dam was absolutely one of the worst forms of torture that Ive ever experienced. The taste of it, the feel of it, my tongue kept 'jumping' when I touched off it, I couldnt swallow because my mouth dried out so much so it was just a dry click, it caused me to gag for 2 hours solid each time it was on me, I would much rather anything and everything drop down my throat than have it on again.

There is also some kind of metal clip that prevents you from being able to close your mouth or speak so I spent the entire time in a panicky agony of worrying that Id need to speak, would need a loo but not be able to say so, or that my jaw simply wouldnt stay open any longer.

If regular dentists used them I can safely say Id go even less often than I do now!!!

notaplumber wrote: »

Bring an iPod/iPhone etc, and with the endodontist's permission feel free to put in your earphones, and listen to your favorite music, not only will it cut out the technical jargon between the endodontist and her/his assistant, but it should also help drown out the sound of the drill etc, and help you relax a little.

I envy those who can relax enough to listen - I did bring mine but switched it off as I was too on edge to settle into listening.

notaplumber wrote: »

As stated the whole procedure took no more than 90 minutes.

For me there was a 90 minute procedure, a 2 hour procedure, then another 2 hour procedure - all the same root canal on the same tooth.

notaplumber wrote: »

Also note that a crown is needed about a month after this root canal treatment procedure.

My understanding was that you have 6 months before you have to get it crowned? Perhaps its different for different teeth.

ButterflyABC

I didn't find the root canal painful but I did find the nerve pain before it painful. It's torture. Had one done 2 years ago and still have not got a crown yet as they are so expensive but you do run the risk of the tooth cracking since it's weakened from the root canal procedure. My dentist explained to me that a crown is usually always needed especially on molar teeth.

narddog

Good description of a root canal by the OP. Had one done on tooth 15 3 weeks ago. It was apparently a tricky one, with 3 canals, one of which was very curved and hard to do. Went through the exact thing the OP did.

I went to an endodonist with 12+ years experience who talked me through everything and did a fabulous job. My rct was done on a previously crowned tooth, so I had to get it recrowned after the rct. Bit of a shame,as the endo told me I had a nice crown

Makes me wonder who is allowed to do root canal procedures. Can any dentist do them, or are only endodontist allowed do them? Given the complexity of the work, I would only go to someone who specializes in that stuff. We have great dental insurance here in the US, which covered 80% of the treatment, leaving me to pay $150, but regardless of cost the relief of not having that constant pain is priceless.