Post by dixienormous on Jan 3, 2013 9:41:09 GMT -5
I didn't want to thread-jack.
I don't have any actual pain associated with the tooth that I'm having worked on. What's going on is basically my tooth is eating itself from the inside out. No known cause, just spontaneously happens. And mine is really close to the root so they can't open the tooth clean out the internal mess without doing a root canal. I've let it go for 5+ years because it hasn't been bothering me. Only now I have a cavity on the tooth and they won't touch it without doing the root canal.
If you don't currently have any pain, then you likely won't have any. Unless you get an infection or something.
When they do a root canal, they remove the root and nerves in that tooth. Removing nerves=no pain.
I had one root canal on a molar. I was in soooo much pain before I had it done. As soon as the root canal was done and the novocaine wore off, it was all better. I didn't need any advil or anything afterward. The pain I had was seriously just gone.
You should be good to go then. Taking the day off is a good idea. My endodontist (root canal specialist) loaded me up on novocaine and I was working a phone job back then... I would have been drooling all over the mic on my headset.
The process itself really isn't all that bad. I'm not sure how root canals got the reputation that they have.
OMG the drill! I hate that thing. I have really weak enamel, so I'm no stranger to fillings.
Honestly, the root canal I had was less dramatic than fillings (and less noisy, if I remember correctly). When I was a kid it was normal for me to get 2 or 3 fillings every six months.
The only part that sucked was the novocaine needle, and my mouth was a bit sore because they use this contraption that looks like the thing that keeps Malcolm Macdowell's eyes open in A Clockwork Orange to keep your mouth open (and I'm saying this so you don't see it the first time when you're there and freak). Other than that it was just weird and thoroughly boring. I watched like half an episode of Deadliest Catch.
Root canals really are no big deal. I've had more than I care to count.
The reason this one is hurting so badly is because there's an abscess at the base of the tooth root. Sadly there's already nissen a root canal on the tooth, but the dentist who did the work (not an endodontist) didn't get all the root material out. So really the pain I'm having is due to the abscess pushing on a nerve. I've never had this kind of pain before with one and I probably have at least as many root canals as imoan.
Tl, dr: there's nothing to be scared of, it will feel better afterwards, don't let my story bother you because it's an anomaly.