Mild Freak Out - root canal

[donrogers]

Root canal was awful it never ended...
I pulled my bottom two wisdom teeth - they were impacted so they put me out --- A few years later I had to pull the top two - They had already grown in so the doctor asked me local or general anesthesia? - my first child had just been born so I answered "natural" - (haha I was joking, I had local)

[Peach]

Well, went in to today for a third crack at it. Sedation on board via oral meds made me drowsy (and being sleep deprived helped), they froze the back of my hands with EMLA cream and we were good to go!

Until they couldn't find a good enough vein. They tried once, in the arm, but they had to go through muscle and owie that hurt! So, in the end, they couldn't give me the IV and it wasn't my fault. I drank lots of water before hand (all night; something like 2 liters) to help the veins show more, but - no dice!

They said I could go to a pay hospital, but I have less than $500 in my account so I can't afford to pay for EVERYTHING.

So..this had to be done. Now or never. I said give me the gas, freeze me up good, I'll put my eye mask on, and we'll do it.

And we did. Except the gas made me feel HORRIBLY dizzy for a bit and I almost vomited. I heard everything - didn't care. I wasn't "sedated" but I was feeling good - and I slept.

The dentist told my mom he has no idea how I didn't have any pain before because the cavity was SO HUGE (she pulled him aside while they re-x-rayed and asked if he was doing a root canal). He said I should have been in excruciating pain before coming to him, but I wasn't lol

I slept from about 3:30 until 9:30, still feel tired, but absolutely no pain and all I took was 2 extra strength Advil when I got home. Bit swollen, not really tender but a smidge.

So happy it's done. Now I have to go back and get a crown next week. Oral sedation for that, plus nitrous and they'll do my cleaning then too. $1000 for that >.<; Today's bill was $400 (which mom paid and I have to pay her back) but then my teeth will be back up to par.

Phew!

[katia]

If you get a root canal, the only pain you will feel will be to your wallet!

[Peach]

Originally Posted by katia

If you get a root canal, the only pain you will feel will be to your wallet!

Got the root canal! Insurance paid for 60% of it, but didn't pay a penny for the laughing gas. They paid 60% of the total cost (apart from the gas) but it still came to $338, which my mom paid. I have to go back in for the crown plus fillings and with the nitrous (which insurance doesn't cover) it's going to be $1000.

So, altogether, almost $2,000 for this procedure and that's WITH insurance covering a lot of it

*sigh*

[ShaneH]

Originally Posted by inkista

Root canals, as a procedure, aren't painful. I've had them done (and redone) with just the local, and the procedure itself has always been much like getting a cavity filled, only it takes longer and is more involved, and then you have a temp crown and have to go back and get the real crown fitted. [Oh, and lucky me. I have a trick metabolism that burns through novacaine like nobody's business, and I've had to get shot up about three times during a simple cavity filling before the newer drugs came in.]

No, no.

The pain comes AFTER you have the root canal. And that all depends on how badly a shape the nerve was in. I've had completely painless root canals, because the nerve had rotted out, and there was basically nothing alive left to be scraped out of the canal. In that situation, I'd had a throbbing on-again/off-again tooth for months prior. I've had excruciating root canals, where the nerve was fine and healthy, but I'd cracked the tooth, so they had to scoop out a perfectly healthy nerve.

Those are the ones that are... er... not so pleasant and do the throb-until-you-can't-sleep thing. But. The pulpitis pain lessens steadily over time. The first 24-48 hours are the worst, but it gets better, and over-the-counter pain meds (I use Aleve) can blunt most of it. Avoid temperature extremes (i.e., drink warm/tepid water, not hot water or ice water) for those two days, and you'll be ok.

No, see, the nightmare is after they put a crown on, and THEN you need the root canal.... (yes, I have a filling in one of my crowns, or did, until the crown broke off with the stub, and the dentist had to make a new stub by trimming away my gum). Or after you've gone through all of that, and then it leaks... let me tell you my root canal retreat story... the one with the phrase "if that hadn't worked, they'd have had to peel your palate back..." in it.... Of course, I have coworkers who pshaw that story and begin with the phrase, "let me tell you about the time my implant went bad..."

Woman up. Get it over with. A root canal isn't even near the top in the dental horror story stakes.

Holy Crap!!! I've had a root canal done, but don't have a crown over the tooth. Is this the fun I have to look forward too when I'm finally able to afford to have one put on??

[inkista]

Originally Posted by ShaneH

Holy Crap!!! I've had a root canal done, but don't have a crown over the tooth. Is this the fun I have to look forward too when I'm finally able to afford to have one put on??

No, no. If you've had a root canal and it's clean, there won't be an issue after they put the crown on. I had a tooth that had a crown put on it without needing a root canal at the time, and then a dozen years later, it needed one. Hence the filling through the crown. But the "stub" of tooth that was left was mostly hollowed out by the root canal, so my tooth "stub" on which the crown was attached was basically a thin ring, and that's why the crown broke off, and the stub had to be "rebuilt" so he could hang another crown off it.

So, as I said. A single root canal and crown are not even in the top ten of dental horror stories.