Opinions about root canals welcomed.

6/3/03 | Dane

[Dane]

I am currently going through root canal treatment. Yes there is embarassment by my tooth(molar) has rotted and in need of a root canal and yet I dug deeper(no pun intended) and did some research and read that it is basically a very common procedure(albeit expensive), but I am interested in learning about any Freeper's previous experiences with this dental procedure.

I am surmising that from over 100,000 Freeper's that at least 1,000(1%) of the 100,000 Freeper's had root canal.

The statistic in the above paragraph is my own summation.

Here's the story, about 7 months ago, I bought a pack of licoriche from a vending machine and when eating one the sticks of the package, I noticed a hard piece of matter in my mouth(no San Francisico jokes please) and spit it out. It was part of one of my teeth. I never had any overt pain with my teeth. The only pain was going to a dentist, especially the dentist that I visited over 20 years ago who had fun with my buckle cavity and the dentist decided to play with it with his pick and do a "Marathon Man" imitation and I never visited a dentist since that moment.

Well I just decided to ignore the broken tooth since it didn't hurt. That worked fine for 6 months, until about three weeks ago, at midnight I was awoken with pain and it lasted all night. I called a local dentist the next morning and they couldn't take me for a week and they prescribed me some antibiotics, which actually worked to reduce the pain.

To make a long story short, there is a moral to this story. Don't take your teeth for granted, IMHO. Teeth can cause a lot of pain.

I know, I know, this thread will be attacked by Libertarians, calling me "Mr. Nanny" and other Libertarian collialquisms, but what the hey, all I am doing is giving my opinion and life experience.

Take care of your teeth and they will take care of you.

[areafiftyone]

I couldn't eat because it was so painful before I went in and then when I got in the hospital they had such horrible food that the stench made me gag! I didn't eat one thing until I came home. The fed me intravenously so I lost 10 pounds and the dentist said he would charge me extra for the weight loss! :-) I never want to go thru that again. I have made a promise to myself that after everything is finished I will go get checked every 6 months to prevent anything from happening again. All this was cause out of my own stupidity and fear! I can just kick myself for this!

[Ten Megaton Solution]

I see where you said you had it done already. Brushing and flossing won't correct the damage from a crack caused by crunching ice or corn nuts or anything hard like that. That crack can be a safe haven for caries causing bacteria. Went in for a filling for a cavity, turned out to be a crack that needed a crown and the crack almost penetrated the root cavity, which would have meant "root canal".

My dentist says that extractions require the use of an implant in the jaw to prevent the remaining teeth from shifting. Extractions also leave holes that are really dandy hiding places for bits of food. The Navy pulled all four of my wisdoms, and twenty years later there are still pits in my gum line.

But by all means, get a root canal when needed. What's your other option? To leave a dying tooth in your jaw. That will only lead to even more dental work and bills and pain.

[Theresa]

I have had about a half a dozen root canals. (The really painful part is PAYING for them.) Seriously the only part that hurts is when he gives you the novocaine injection. After that it's just you feel pressure and you have to keep your mouth open for a good while. It's not really bad. Just RELAX and accept it rather than dreading it.