Root Canal

[BrianNorth]

Wonderin' if anyone else has gone through this..

Had a filling replaced a few months ago. That particular tooth I'd had done when I was 15 or so and after the filling it was insanely sensitive. I had no real coverage so there was no way for me to go back. I just favored the other side of my mouth and over the course of years it just stopped.

Fast forward to now and it was THAT filling I'd had replaced as he noticed it had issues. I've been sensitive ever since. I also had a side of jaw pain which at times was just twingy enough to make me not sleep well. I went in and he ran through all sorts of tests and x rays and it turns out the filling runs pretty close to the nerve causing pulpitis. I got a quote on a root canal which is pushing $1000. He wanted me to test it with hot sensitivity (mostly fine. it may give a mild pulse). It was mentioned if I could live with it then go for it as it's not causing any damage.

Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience. I'm somewhat concerned one day it's going to be really bad but past experience says that it'll die down in time. It's also a lot of money.. I've got coverage for 80% but I've already agreed to dump 2400 into braces. At this point I'm leaning towards just using ibuprofen when jaw is twingy.

[Rareboy]

The day will come when you will likely need to have it done.

But I had a root canal and a cap done about a decade ago. So the root canal was about $800. The cap was about $1000.

But then I had trouble with it. And that was when I was told that the root canal had missed a nerve because of a turn in the base of one root. So then it was on to the Endodontist.

Who drilled down through my beautiful crown and drilled out all the roots again. $3000. And put in a temp filling. For free I guess.

Back to my own dentist who then put in a silver filling because I couldn't have a ceramic filling in a crown. $200. And no apologies.

And I think they still missed part of a nerve ending which I have just learned to live with.

BTW. I did get a new dentist.

[CellarDweller]

I've never had a root canal, I wish you luck. Sounds expensive, but I wouldn't put it off.

I had a tooth issue once, causing no pain, so I put it off. Come Saturday morning my tooth was throbbing, and I was in pain until Monday when the dentist could see me.

[BrianNorth]

The day will come when you will likely need to have it done.

But I had a root canal and a cap done about a decade ago. So the root canal was about $800. The cap was about $1000.

But then I had trouble with it. And that was when I was told that the root canal had missed a nerve because of a turn in the base of one root. So then it was on to the Endodontist.

Who drilled down through my beautiful crown and drilled out all the roots again. $3000. And put in a temp filling. For free I guess.

Back to my own dentist who then put in a silver filling because I couldn't have a ceramic filling in a crown. $200. And no apologies.

And I think they still missed part of a nerve ending which I have just learned to live with.

BTW. I did get a new dentist.

Hollyyyy that sounds like hell. The worst I've had to deal with was getting my wisdoms out. I was fully sedated as I didn't want to be awake and I had a dry socket. All in all pretty mild stuff.

I've never had a root canal, I wish you luck. Sounds expensive, but I wouldn't put it off.

I had a tooth issue once, causing no pain, so I put it off. Come Saturday morning my tooth was throbbing, and I was in pain until Monday when the dentist could see me.

I'm mostly putting it off as its identical symptoms to the last time I had a filling done in that tooth. The jaw discomfort is new but I've always had jaw pain of some sort. My dentist is pretty comfortable with me waiting it out and perhaps not doing it at all unless it gets to bother me.

[Rareboy]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.ph...Root+Canal

[Bowyn Aerrow]

I had something similar, I eventually got around pulling it myself. And I do mean myself, in my bathroom with a rusty pair of pliers... This was pretty recently too um late October early November. Because you see at one time I had money, then the economy tanked and about a dozen other things happened in my life which meant by the time the tooth really started acting up and causing me a lot of pain it was either live with the pain another day, or pull out my own tool chest and do my own dentistry.

I was 'lucky' in that the tooth had been loosened years ago because the wisdom tooth behind it had done damage already, and 'lucky' in that I had antibiotics around to do a course to prevent infection, lucky in that I know how much antibiotic to take and for how long to prevent infection, lucky in knowing how to pack my own gaping socket, lucky in having pain medication left over for 'emergencies' and other similar run of luck.

Now, will you have a pair of pliers and stuff for socket packing and antibiotics and all of this 'luck' when you run out of money and you find yourself in agony and want the damn thing out of your head?

There are few certainties about the future. You don't know if you will have a job 6 months or years down the road. You don't know who is going to screw you over, what other complications in life are going to take place.

You already ARE doing damage to your dental work. You are favoring that side of your mouth, thus putting all the chewing and hard work on the other side of the mouth, working and wearing down that side far rapidly. Maybe not immediately, but eventually you will start having problems with that chewing side of the mouth.

Do yourself a favor, and get it dealt with properly. There is enough pain in your life ahead of you coming (trust me there is) this is one of those pains you can stop and prevent, saving enough pain points for other things down the road.

[LJay]

Talk with your dentist about the consequences of pulling the tooth. Other teeth, for example, may migrate without the tooth in place to hold them where they should be. Does your price include a crown? Make sure you know the total cost.

As for the procedure itself, it is usually not painful these days, though it may take two or three visits.

If, in the meantime, you have pain, my endodontist told me that a combination of ibuprofen and aspirin seems to work better than either one alone.

[BrianNorth]

I had something similar, I eventually got around pulling it myself. And I do mean myself, in my bathroom with a rusty pair of pliers... This was pretty recently too um late October early November. Because you see at one time I had money, then the economy tanked and about a dozen other things happened in my life which meant by the time the tooth really started acting up and causing me a lot of pain it was either live with the pain another day, or pull out my own tool chest and do my own dentistry.

I was 'lucky' in that the tooth had been loosened years ago because the wisdom tooth behind it had done damage already, and 'lucky' in that I had antibiotics around to do a course to prevent infection, lucky in that I know how much antibiotic to take and for how long to prevent infection, lucky in knowing how to pack my own gaping socket, lucky in having pain medication left over for 'emergencies' and other similar run of luck.

Now, will you have a pair of pliers and stuff for socket packing and antibiotics and all of this 'luck' when you run out of money and you find yourself in agony and want the damn thing out of your head?

There are few certainties about the future. You don't know if you will have a job 6 months or years down the road. You don't know who is going to screw you over, what other complications in life are going to take place.

You already ARE doing damage to your dental work. You are favoring that side of your mouth, thus putting all the chewing and hard work on the other side of the mouth, working and wearing down that side far rapidly. Maybe not immediately, but eventually you will start having problems with that chewing side of the mouth.

Do yourself a favor, and get it dealt with properly. There is enough pain in your life ahead of you coming (trust me there is) this is one of those pains you can stop and prevent, saving enough pain points for other things down the road.

It's not super about the pain at this point. Mostly the expense when I've already got 2kish earmarked for orthodontic work. I trust my dentist and he's left it upto me at this point as he said pulpitis can reverse. He mentioned he'd be concerned and pushing me towards doing it if I was sensitive to hot. I'm in a fortunate position in that if I did somehow lose my job I'd still be able to take care of my teeth. I've been pretty diligent in saving and I've got very kind grandparents that'd be jumping to help.

Talk with your dentist about the consequences of pulling the tooth. Other teeth, for example, may migrate without the tooth in place to hold them where they should be. Does your price include a crown? Make sure you know the total cost.

As for the procedure itself, it is usually not painful these days, though it may take two or three visits.

If, in the meantime, you have pain, my endodontist told me that a combination of ibuprofen and aspirin seems to work better than either one alone.

Yeah I was kinda thinking about yanking it but it could shift all the ortho work I'm paying to get done. I've just heard way too many tales of root canals leading to pulled teeth anyway.

[LJay]

Actually that raises another point. Root canals do not always last. Talk to your dentist about that. In my case a number of factors contributed to the teeth being lost eventually after a lot of expensive endodontics. Part of it had to do with the after effects of chemotherapy and I hope that is not nor will be ever a part of your life. Still, if you are able to talk with your dentist about it, it is worth the time to discuss.

[Rareboy]

It's not super about the pain at this point. Mostly the expense when I've already got 2kish earmarked for orthodontic work. I trust my dentist and he's left it upto me at this point as he said pulpitis can reverse. He mentioned he'd be concerned and pushing me towards doing it if I was sensitive to hot. I'm in a fortunate position in that if I did somehow lose my job I'd still be able to take care of my teeth. I've been pretty diligent in saving and I've got very kind grandparents that'd be jumping to help.



Yeah I was kinda thinking about yanking it but it could shift all the ortho work I'm paying to get done. I've just heard way too many tales of root canals leading to pulled teeth anyway.

DO NOT have it pulled until you are in a position to have an implant to take its place. If you can live with it until then.....that is the route to go.