I have to have a root canal...

[TinkHappy]

Can anyone tell me (without scareing me please ) what it is like. I am very nervous about it...

Thanks!!

 

[Pooh67_68]

Don't know anything about them, just wanted to give you a

 

[Kallison]

Don't go to a dentist, go to someone who specializes in root canals. I got one royally screwed up about 15 years ago, went too high in my canal and messed up my sinuses (oops hope that is not the scarey part.)

My son is a major pain wimp at the dentist and had his front tooth done last year with no problems.

 

[aprilgail2]

I have to tell you I don't understand why people make such a big thing about root canals.....I have had 6 of them and they don't hurt any more than a simple filling, just take longer to do! There was no pain after it or during it. You will do just fine, don't let anyone scare you!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have had several, and agree with aprilgail2. I think it is 'tradition' to make a big thing out of them. Now, I must say, I would rather be waving my napkin at Chef Mickey's, but a root canal is not the end of the world. You have anesthetic and feel little. I have had several, no problems. My best.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You don't know why people make such a big deal about root canals? You obviously never have been in the most pain in YOUR LIFE!

My roots were inflamed and infected. The root canal was a blessing. It relieved all the pain and pressure.

I had it done by an endodontist. Good Luck! If you are not in pain now & need one you are lucky before it gets to that.

 

[tiggersmom2]

My Dad is a general Dentist and does root canals EVERY day!!! It is no different than getting a filling (pain wise). You will get a shot and you will be numb. Everything will be fine. My dad has been practicing for 30 years and has never had a complaint with his root canals, so just for your information general dentist CAN and Do do a fine job on root canals.


BTW, if you go to an Endodontist (someone who specializes in root canals) you will pay about $1,000 more!

P.S. I'm certainly not trying to slam you Kallison, I'm sorry you had a bad experience but some Dentist are very competent in the areas of root canals!

 

[MelessaG]

I'm glad to know dentists can do them too. My DH is having one Tuesday at a regular dentist's office. If it would help, I can post how his goes. It will be a first for our family, so we don't know much yet. I do know DH is in a lot of pain and has been for about a week. I'm really hoping this will help. I hope yours will too.

 

[Kallison]

understood, but having once had the worst root canal of my life done I'll never go back to a general dentist. And the dentist way overcharged me, not the specialist, so I guess it depends on where you live. The dentist actually did the last procedure w/o anesthetic . I was in my 20's then, I should have walked out. Later I found out he was going through a bad divorce and I'm wondering if maybe I reminded him of his ex-wife!! You're right though, if you have a trustworthy dentist go for it.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i got a root canal when i was in 10th grade i think..i am the BIGGEST wimp about pain...i was fine..i just told themn not to tell me what they were doing....

 

[Blondie]

Root canals should be painless and fairly easy to deal with, unless it gets infected like mine did!

I'm telling you, I have never been in so much pain! If I paged him once, I paged him 10 times on a Sunday because I couldn't take the pain any more! He was on a fishing trip! He finally called me back around dinner time and phoned in a narcotic pain reliever (Hydrocodone) because nothing else would kill the pain!

After all was said and done, I ended up getting the darned thing pulled a year later anyway, it was totally screwed up, the crown kept falling out!

If it's a molar that is way in the back like mine was, spare yourself and and your bank account and just have it pulled!

 

[tiggersmom2]

OMG! NO, NO, NO!!!! Do NOT have your tooth pulled, even if it is a molar!!!! If you pull a molar, the molar above it will start supererupting! That would be a huge mess! Sorry to contradict you Blondie but as I said before my Dad is a Dentist and I am his Dental Hygienist. If you pull a molar you would most likely need a bridge to keep the tooth above from supererupting and that would be even MORE money.

 

[Blondie]

Well, it's been almost 15 years now, and all my other teeth seem to be fine. I'm sure if there was a "supererupting" thing going on my dentist would inform me, at least I hope he would've by now!

 

[tiggersmom2]

I'm so happy you haven't had any problems I don't know all the circumstances with your case (if you have a missing tooth above or below) but I'm just saying what happens in MOST cases. I'm certainly NOT trying to pick a fight and I don't want you to feel as if I am attacking you. I'm just trying to give the advice I give my patients every day.

 

[battricia]

I had a root canal a few years ago. Before I had it: I woke up one morning in the most pain i've ever been in in my life. I went to the dentist immediately, and he didn't want to do it, he wanted me to go to an endodontist. So he put me on painkillers and antibiotics. I waited about 3 weeks before I got the root canal, and that was probably the best thing. The absess by that time had completely drained and I was in no pain at all. I got the root canal and honestly it wasn't bad AT ALL. No worse than a regular filling. The worst part is the novocane. (again no worse than a regular filling, but I hate the novocane when it comes to anything). So calm down, take a deep breath. You'll be OK!

tricia.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

In September, I was in alot of pain. I went to my dentist who said "You need to go to an Endodontist and have a root canal or I can pull it" OMG I almost passed out. I have only heard bad things about root canals and was scared silly !!! I spent the next two days not sleeping, not eating and in a complete panic!!

It was not that bad! It was similar to getting a cavity filled, just a bit more extensive, but no more painful. They did mine in two appointments. I had mine done about 2 weeks before we left for Disney. I was able to enjoy my vacation, dental pain free!!

You will be fine, and much happier afterwards. (Except for the expense - $950 for mine)

 

[vhoffman]

lDo go to an endodontist. I had a root canal done about 6 years ago and I went to several before I found the one I was most comfortable with. He had an imaging device (I don't know what its called) which had a sort of camera attached to the dental probe so he could see on a screen exactly how far inside the root canal he was going. Good thing, too. My root canal was very narrow towards the end and he didn't go as far as he would without the screen image. For me, the whole thing was painless. I had a shot of lidocaine and also a shot of epinephreine into the gum area. This caused the tissues to contract and hold the pain killer in the local area a little longer. Otherwise, the lidocaine would just spread out into surrounding tissues before the procedure was complete. I also had about 5 mg valium before the procedure which helped take the edge off. The only problem I had was after the procedure my heart raced a little due to the epinephreine, but it wore off. Please shop carefully, there's a lot of half-baked dentists out there who will take your money for procedures they really aren't specialized in or have the equipment to do it right. I ran into a lot of those yo-yo's until I found the one I liked. Be careful!

 

[Eeyore1954]

I recently had one done (my first). The nerve had become infected and the tooth was so painful I couldn't even touch it. It took several shots to numb it enough to drill, but the experience was not that bad. Not that I'd want to go through another one any time soon! Just make sure to work out a signal with your dentist to let him/her know if you are experiencing pain or discomfort. Best wishes for a successful procedure.

 

[classicpooh4]

OMG! I was just like you at first, the last 2 times I was pregnant I had to have one. It's not as frightening as you may hear. It's rather relaxing ya kinda weird to say, but you are so numb you can't tell what they are doing.

 

[floridafam]

You've gotten some great advice.

The only thing I haven't seen mentioned is swelling. You may or may not experience this.

My DH had a root canal a few years ago and he had so much swelling in his face that he didn't even look like my husband. It was really strange.

Good luck to you. When my Dentist gives me shots, I honestly can't feel a thing.

His was done by his Dentist. My Dentist won't do them and sent me to an Endodontist. I haven't gone in yet for the 2 I am supposed to have.