Can you tell me what to expect when I get a root canal?

I had a root canal on a molar when I was 15. I can’t compare it to a filling, because I’ve never had one.
Root canals hurt, but it’s really not so terrible. You’ll be given decent pain killers, hopefully. I went right back to work as a camp counselor after mine, and it was do-able probably because I was numb (I also ended up biting my lip so hard that I bled like crazy and scared the kids- my whole face was numb, but that’s another story).
Stay on top of your pain meds to make it manageable, and eat soft stuff for a few days. You should be just fine. :)

Once the oral surgeon numbs the area, you will feel nothing. You might even want to watch the procedure on TV (Oprah would be more fun.)

Afterwards, your jaw muscles might be a little sore from all those hands poking around inside your mouth and stretching things. But that’s it.

And you’ll drool a little when you talk until the novocaine wears off. Bring some music.\

It’s about the same as having a tooth filled. Big yawn.

A couple of things about root canals:

The dentist/endodontist might need more than one appointment to complete it.
Once it is numb it doesn’t hurt anymore then having a filling put in.
It shouldn’t hurt after the procedure.
After it is done you will probably need a crown on that tooth, that will require at least two more appointments.

It’s actually not an oral surgeon that performs it, but an Endodontist.

I’ve had two root canals in my life. The first was when I was in fifth grade..my second to last lower right molar. The thing with root canals…they can fail. They can redo a root canal, but sometimes it’s pointless. My root canal failed, and I am missing my molar. I don’t recall the pain at all from that procedure.

My second root canal honestly gave me nightmares for months. After I had my son, I had many dental issues, including a root canal. I went to the endodontist my mother sees thinking I’d be okay. I warned him ahead of time about my mouths inability lately to take to novacaine..but they do use something stronger at the Endodontist.
He actually numbed the gum area first, which stung but wasn’t bad, then gave me a large needle..I’m scared to death of needles but he was actually gentle.
The worst part was to come…the novacaine wore off, he could not get ahold of my nerve to rip out, he had to try multiple times while I laid there crying and screaming but there was nothing he could do because you HAVE to keep the area free of bacteria (they put a dental dam around the area) Once he ripped the nerve out, the pain subsided.

I was in a ton of pain prior to the root canal, hardly able to eat because of the inflammation in the affected tooth. So, that might have been another reason it hurt so badly.

If I have to have something done again, I’m just getting the tooth pulled. But, if it’s towards the front..I’d get the root canal. It makes your tooth have a giant hole in it though, they put a temporary filling in it. I still have mine and it’s been over a year, but the tooth is decaying :( I just need to get the permanent filling, but I’m skipping the crown since it’s a molar and no one will see it.

I don’t mean to scare you with my story. You’ll probably be fine. I’d take 600mg of Advil prior to the procedure (since it’s not surgery, you can take Advil beforehand) I would take it and take it as soon as you get home to help with the pain.

pain

NO. I’ve had five and they were time-consuming and expensive but bearable. It is true that you will get a temporary crown and then a permanent one, but the drilling won’t hurt since there are no nerves left.

@gailcalled Everyone has different pain thresholds. And you do still have a nerve there until they clear the pulp and decaying nerve out, which happens during the procedure.

I have a high pain threshold, but I have a lot of fear because I’m very hard to numb. It’s been that way since I got my first filling at about 20 years old. It takes a long time for it to take effect on me and they have to give me more than normal. I had to have a back tooth pulled that cracked and was not fixable. I felt a lot of it being pulled because it just wouldn’t go numb! I was thankful when it was out though!

It’s going to cost about $1400 for the whole thing. The root canal is about $600 and the crown is $750 or so. My insurance will cover about 75 percent, so I’m willing to give it a go. I’ve heard a lot of times you have to get the tooth yanked anyway. The dentist said he could pull it and do a bridge so I don’t have a hole in my smile, but I’m trying the root canal first.

@knitfroggy The root canal is definitely worth a shot. And you won’t have to pay that all upfront. They have to wait to do the crown…you need to have a permanent filling place in, I think at least two weeks after the root canal, and then they do the crown. One of the reasons I’m not doing the crown is because of the cost lol

My most recent one took two 2-hour appointments, last week and this. It was an ordeal because the tooth was way in the back and I had to stretch open as wide as possible for 2 hours without a break

My dentist (a D.D.S, not an oral surgeon or an endodontist) is a genius and an artist, deft and skilled and proud of his craft. He also wants everything done right. So he uses a dental dam to keep the whole area dry and clean and separate and to prevent anything from going down your throat. That involves a metal frame contraption clamped around the tooth and spread over the whole mouth area with a nasty green rubber thing stretched across it.

There was pain, all right, not because I wasn’t numb but because he made sure to go all the way out to the end of the root, and when you do that, the nerves outside are affected, and it hurts. That’s why he was happy and said “That’s good” every time I yelped.

Also the anaesthesia kept wearing off (he doesn’t give more than necessary) and so I ended up with about 2 dozen shots before we were through. My gum was very sore for about 24 hours after both sessions. I used the pain pills he gave me.

Yesterday we had the crown preparation, whch included gum trimming with an electric needle (ugh) and consequently pretty sharp pain afterward. It is still sore.

Actually applying the crown won’t be anything.

I have lost count of how many of these I have had. My choice was between this and an implant, which is a different kind of ordeal and involves an 8-month wait and special care. I chose the root canal.

I have had 2 root canals and the most painful part is the shots to numb the gum…
One thing that I would suggest, and I did both times is ask the Doctor to give you a prescription of Valium…if you get nervous or clastrophobic at all, it really takes the edge off. You take it about ½ hour before the surgery… good luck!

My sister has had several root canals. All were successful and none were painful during or after, although there was some drooling until the Novocaine wore off.

I haven’t had a root canal per se, but I have had to have two crowns done. For me the biggest problems are the sound of the drill plus the way in which modern dental chairs are designed to put you slightly head-down during the procedure. Getting the crown was nothing.

@casheroo The dentist said once I got some of the root canal paid down we would do the crown, so I’m thinking I’ll have that done at tax time. I’m really thinking about it because I think it’s going to be pointless to do the root canal if I don’t get the crown because it won’t last. I understand the financial aspect of it all though. My first question was how much do I have to pay up front and how much is it going to end up costing me! Luckily, I don’t have to pay anything up front and can make payments after the insurance. A lot of dentists around here won’t take payments!

They can do a temporary crown. It won’t be pretty but it will let you eat until you can do the real one.

How much the shots hurt depends a lot on where they are. I always need extra, too, @knitfroggy, but after the first round, it goes in where you are already partly numb. It is not so bad (well, a little bad), and you wouldn’t want to do without it.

All in all, I am very grateful to be living in the age of modern dentistry.

In your situation I would have chosen the root canal too.

@Jeruba What really stinks is that I have to have two teeth pulled also. My top very back molars are too bad to salvage and honestly, I wouldn’t pay for root canals on those teeth. I think he might pull the one on the side that he’s working on Friday, but I’m not sure. I would just as soon he went ahead and pulled them while I was there and let me get it over with! I had excellent teeth until I had kids. The dentist said that it’s not true that having kids ruins your teeth, but I don’t believe that. I brush my teeth twice a day and floss religiously! Bad teeth just run in my family.

@knitfroggy Yeah, you’re lucky! Even dentists I’ve seen for years will not accept payments, which is such a burden…but they must have been screwed multiple times, so I understand.
Which tooth is it? Top teeth always take to novacaine better than lower teeth (from what I’ve been told by many dentists) I’m guessing it’s a top one, like tooth 4 ot 5? I’ve had good experiences with getting fillings filled in those teeth.

I’ve had one – a molar. Honestly, the worst of it for me was when the nerves (three rather large nerves for the one molar) were dying (before the root canal was done). That’s when it was painful and I needed to take some antibiotics before anything was done (my dentist also gave me Tylenol 3 for pain). When it came time to do the root canal, I didn’t feel a thing. The dentist gave me an amalgam filling ,but, highly recommended that I got a crown for the tooth, as well. Well, it would have put me back a grand, so, I opted for just a silver filling. Fast forward 5 years later and, more decay appears. A piece of my tooth breaks off. Back into the dentist’s office I go. He cleaned out the tooth, filled it (omposite (white) filling), then put an onlay on it. This took two hours, but, there was no pain. I had no needles, nor laughing gas. Cost – 700 bucks (my insurance covered part of it).

Once done, I highly recommend getting a crown, or onlay. Whatever your dentist suggests.

@casheroo It’s the tooth right beside the vampire fang tooth canine? I guess it’s the first molar? I’m not familiar with tooth names.

I am usualy really jumpy for oral procedures involving a drill, so I started to get nitrous oxide for any serious work, I was on it for my root canal and, honestly I barely remember it. Nitrous has some fantastic effects, it gives the pain relief of several mg of morphine (so im told), really takes the “edge” off of the procedure and time seems to go by faster when I am on it.

Also make sure that the dentist injects the anesthetic and waits a couple of minutes and then tests the effectiveness of the injection, I am hard to numb up and my dentist does this sometimes he has to go back and re-inject but I think its worth the extra time.

I’ve had 4. I have really weak teeth. If the xray shows any abscess, ask for an antibiotic before the root canal, if they don’t give you one. It can take a few days for the discomfort to go away, but Tylenol usually knocks it out. Tell the dentist you are hard to numb before he starts.

@PandoraBoxx I’m on Clyndimyacin I’m allergic to penecillian and he gave me Lortab for night time because it pounds when I lay down. :(

@knitfroggy, you poor thing! It can’t hurt much more than what you’re going through! That’s a long time to wait. The last one, I had some swelling, because of the abscess (he thought it would absorb, but didn’t.) Actually, I’ve had 5. Last time, I had two teeth done at the same time, right next to each other. It was a little rough because of the infection, but the ones before that, I didn’t have any pain afterwards at all.

@PandoraBoxx I know it’s a week of throbbing but I will survive. I’ve been putting Bacardi 151 on a cotton ball and holding it on the tooth and that helps. I fully know this isn’t a good idea but it works better than anbesol! I have to wait a week so the absess can heal first. I told him I was going to have to think about if I wanted the root canal or not but he told me I needed to decide within the week because I needed to get the absess out and get it fixed. But he thought it was a good idea I think about it and weigh my options. He’s a good dentist-he isn’t all about the money, which is rare, I think. I talked to my mom and husband and then called back and made the appointment.

They are going to pull the nerve out of the tooth. It can be done with no anesthetic at all. My dentist did that to me. You probably want to be well numbed up. Then they will take files and ream your tooth out. It will only hurt when they hit bottom. If you have a careful dentist that won’t happen much. The worst thing about it is that they need to put a rubber membrane around the tooth to keep the saliva out. It tends to pinch the gums.

They will shape the top of your tooth for the crown. They will also glue a metal post into the inside of the tooth to fill it and to hold the crown on. You will have to come back and get the crown. Sometimes they split the work up into three visits.

One thing that I’m learning as I get a bit older (I’m 37 now) is how important it is to take care of your teeth and your body overall. We should all listen to our Mamas (I should have listened to her and went to the dentist more often). Otherwise, we’ll pay for it down the road

@jmah I agree with you on that one! It’s just so hard when you don’t have dental insurance! Thank God I do now…I’ve not had any for about 5 years!

@knitfroggy I was in the same boat. I didn’t have any until a few years ago. Now, I need a few fillings, as well. I’m like, bring it on!

We had dental insurance but I discovered that typically the dentist would charge more when insurance was paying the bill so I ended up paying the same amount with or without insurance. Fortunately, our dentist takes credit cards and will even set up financing options.

Also, our dental insurance had lifetime caps for various procedures that were quickly reached. If Obama has his way and I hope he does that would be history.

@jmah I have a couple other teeth that need filled that we will take care of after this extraction/root canal business. I have to get it done so I’m not in this same boat again some time down the road!

@Darwin Doesn’t seem right that there are lifetime caps does there? You have your teeth for a lifetime hopefully so you should be able to get the damn things worked on if they need it!

@Darwin lifetime caps? ugh. when I was on my parents, we had yearly caps…I never used it much, but did after my son was born didn’t get married for the sole purpose of keeping my parents insurance lol I ran through that little pocket of insurance quite quickly! Teeth are very expensive

What bothers me most is that teeth are treated separately from the rest of the body. Health insurance should be whole body health insurance, not everything except teeth and feet insurance.

Yes, it’s really sickening how much they charge. My sister’s friend is an accountant and she said that there is a dentist in town she couldn’t say who that makes $20,000 a month after his expenses! I mean, good for him, but c’mon! It’s a racket, I swear! Insurance doesn’t like to cover feet either? My daughter has an ingrown toenail that is starting to bother her…Crap!

Insurance will cover some foot things, but not others. For example, insurance will cover my husband’s hospitalizations and surgeries for foot ulcers, but refuses to cover the orthotics that would have kept him from getting the ulcers in the first place.

@Darwin That makes tons of sense doesn’t it? What pencil pusher do they have making those decisions? I don’t know a lot about the health care situation that Obama is working on, but I think that the damned insurance companies are the ones that need reformed! I’m all for better, more accessible health care. I lived without health insurance for a couple years and it was damned scary, I’ll tell you that.

My brother hasn’t had health insurance for years. Fortunately Texas has a victim’s compensation fund that covered the considerable expenses from when he was shot, but everything else has been out-of-pocket.

Almost all dentists make a huge common mistake with root canals: they then put a huge crown on the thing. Huge both in width and height. It cramps the mouth, it makes you feel like its’ not quite right. Most people put up with this, and don’t even complain. They live the rest of their lives like that. Don’t be like that. Tell the dentist to make it small as possible, even if it looks smaller than your other teeth. Say you don’t want it to bite either, against its opposing opposite tooth. . Also, many dentists make the margin too large (where the tip of the bottom of the crown hits your gumline) and it you can feel it. Most people put up with that, but they shouldn’t have to. If your gum feels pinched, make sure he shaves the margin super-small. Tell him you care more about the crown being small, than looking natural. After all this, he will still make it too large. Then just keep going back to get the thing shaved off more and more, till it truly is a small size. When its small, you never feel it. When its large, you always feel it.

As far as pain during surgery goes… a competent dentist causes very little pain. But some dentists, either due to incompetence or a bad attitude… hurt like hell. Some of those dentists who cause pain have a religious-type attitude that you should suck it up if there’s extra pain, that way he saves both money and risk, by using less anesthesia. But then again, its beneficial to not get 100% numb, because you want to feel where the thing doesn’t feel right. That’s near impossible though, so plan for a few repeat visits. (Those repeat visits should be free, they are connected to the original problem).

Ask your dentist about doing a “half crown” instead of a full one. Look it up first so you know what you’re talking about. The half crown is smaller, and doesn’t touch your gumline the way a full crown does. Many crowns have a bottom made of metal or sharp glass or composite. This can dig into the gumline causing pain. Half crowns are the solution to that. In some cases, half-crowns simply won’t fit due to the angle, though.

I have a molar half-crown made with all-composite (no metal). Most dentists will do their best to avoid that, saying that’s too risky, molars need metal cuz its strong, etc. etc., but they’re wrong wrong wrong. Cuz how it feels is the most important thing.

I’m so glad I insisted on this on my last dental issue. I made the mistake of just going with the flow of what the dentist suggests, in the past, always to huge failure.

They won’t want to make your crown so small. They’ll talk about bite, protection, etc. etc. Or they’ll just nod and say Okay, but then make it large anyway. But bottom line is… if the thing is big, it creates a stress point under the fake tooth inside the gum near the jawbone, causing a whole host of seemingly unrelated problems. I’m not a quack chiropractor or nothing, I’m just talking from my own experience and research as a patient.

So most likely you’ll be pressured to go with what the dentist sez to do. But if anything I said comes true… the solution is to have him shave that thing down so its super tiny.

I’m sure you already got your question suffieciently answered, me personally, have had several, even down in Mexico for about a $100, and let me tell yeah, tequila isn’t enough. They’re not that bad, a little uncomfortable, but not too bad. Definatly keep the tooth, I miss some of mine, gonna have to get implants, and that’s is spendy. Late

No need to be nervous. I didn’t feel a thing beside the short prick of a needle before the anesthetic took hold. But the procedure is time consuming and several visits to the dentist are necessary.

@Kraigmo, that’s not my experience at all with crowns. Perhaps the dental lab in your area is not as skilled. (Hmmm——that would be an item for the list of occupations you don’t really think about. Dental lab technician would require some artistic skills.)

@Kraigmo – I, too, have not had that experience with any crowns, except for one temporary crown. But it was just that, a temporary crown. When my dentist fitted the permanent crowns she spent quite a while listening to me about how it felt and making adjustments to it. As a result, the teeth feel perfectly normal except a bit smoother than the rest of my teeth.

I opted for gold crowns because they were cheaper and last longer. Besides I have always secretly wanted to be a pirate. Aaaarrrrgggh!

I’m so glad my post won’t frighten you. I’ve had One RC. I felt NOTHING. It was similar to getting a filling except fillings can hurt at times and this didn’t. I went to an endodontist who did not use gas which scared me to death but , other than having to have my mouth open for an hour it was a breeze. A thousand dollar breeze.