Has anyone here had a root canal?

[Rachel]

I must have had at least 4 root canals and have never had a subsequent problem with them. I have mine done by an endodondist and it takes two trips to complete the process. The cost for my last one was $895.00 but my insurance paid about two thirds of that.

[Karen]

I have had two root canals. The tooth hurt way more before the root canal than having the root canal done. And I have had no problems with either tooth since, they are still firmly in place in my mouth, and cause not even a bit of trouble.

[mruffruff]

Root canals are usually done to eliminate an infection in the canal. If the infection is not eradicated, filling won't help.

I've had at least three root canals and I have no more problems with those teeth. I was warned, however, that there are no guarantees that I won't ever need another root canal. Essentially what they do is to clean out the infection, remove as much of the nerve as they can, and seal the hole. The filling keeps anything from getting to the canal and reinfecting (unless the tooth next to it gets infected).

The pain is less than getting the tooth pulled. And you can eat normally in about a week---with no tooth there, your other teeth MAY shift, and you might not be able to chew as well.

Caps and bridges aren't as good as your own teeth. I have a combination of all three. Caps show at the base, bridges are sometimes hard to clean.

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

I have had two root canals. The tooth hurt way more before the root canal than having the root canal done..

That is one thing that makes me want to just get the filling... because the tooth doesn't even hurt!?!?!?!?!?


errrrrggg..

I feel so confused now!! Now that i'm hearing positive stories about root canals..

i honestly have no idea.. this is a new dentist for me... and i'm not real sure about her or her work...

[Karen]

My first root canal was because I had lost a filling and ignored it, and man, THAT hurt when the infection hit the nerve.

The other root canal started out as a tooth that needed a filling, but the dentist, when he went to fill the tooth, discovered that the infection was too close to the nerve, so to spare me future pain, he put a temporary filling in, and we scheduled the root canal.

[Husky_mom]

I ´ve had one root canal and one extraction......

the root canal was made to one of my molar which was filled a while ago, the filling came off and I was fine for many many years (I´m talking since a kid) but my molar still had a huge hole now (no pain, no nothing) but then......my kid was born and my molar started bothering me, i went to a dentist and supposedly he cleaned it up and filled it again, and Oh suprise!! two days later I went to another desntist with mayor MAYOR pain......he took the filling off and let my molar drain (the first one just filled it right away) and a few days later he told me I barely had a molar left, so either root canal or extraction and then a prostetic molar (which meant $$$$$) so I went for root canal........

I have a bad histoty with anesthesia (It takes too long to work on me and lasts very little) so you can imagine i had like 10 shots until he couldwork and I had to come about 3 times to get it completely done as he could not give me too much anesthesia in one session.......

now my molar doesn´t bothers me but sometimes I do think maybe an extraction without a fake molar would´ve been more easy, as after that i had a full dental checkup and fixing and after that another molar was bothering me, finally a wisdom teeth!! (haha no wonders) but it was taking too much space so it had to be removed in 10 min I was out and happy with my molar in a bag LOL

sometimes I think I feel something in my root canal but I also think it´s just my imagination as ALL my nerves were taken off (he told me usually a person has 2 I had 3!!) but I just don´t know.......I have such a powerful mind....

[IRescue452]

You guys are making me feel better. I'm only 21 and I've got 3 teeth pulled and tons of fillings. Its genetic for native americans to have poor teeth and I've got native genes from both sides. My mother's family has good teeth though, so I get to hear all sorts of grief from them whenever I go to the dentist for more work. Its not like I asked for bad teeth, and its not like I don't take care of them. Anywho, good dental support group here, lol.

[Pam]

Sara, though I have never had a root canal I worked for a dentist for ten years and my hubby has had several so I am familiar with them. One thing you must always keep in mind with a root canal is that is not the end of the work needed on that teeth. Once the nerve is removed the tooth over time will become brittle. For that reason all root canal teeth need crowns.

My hubby learned this the hard way. He had a root canal done in a front tooth when he was 16 years old. He never had the tooth crowned and when he was in his mid-30's he was eating something and the tooth broke off at the gumline! This was two days before an important job interview. Fortunately our dentist was able to fit him in and set him up with a temporary tooth called a flipper. He went on to have an implant in that tooth and is a happy camper although they are VERY expensive as are bridges. *sigh*

[jennielynn1970]

Just the words "root canal" makes me scared, lol.

I've had the good fortune to have been blessed with strong teeth. I just had my first cavities filled before Christmas. I was such a wimp. They were really superficial, the dentist said, but just hearing the drill freaked me out. I also had my wisdom teeth taken out 2 days after Christmas, and that was NOT a pleasant experience! I was not sedated, just some laughing gas and some valium, but the sound of cracking teeth was not a pleasant one. I'm sure the dentist wasn't happy that I ended up hyperventilating on the last tooth either. I just lost it, and by that time the novacaine was wearing off, the valium wasn't doing jack, and the laughing gas definitely did not make me laugh. I hadn't been to the dentist in 7years up till that point. I have dental insurance, I just get panic attacks whenever I'm there. This new office even burns candles for me when I have a basic cleaning cause the smell makes me sick to my stomach.

I'd suggest doing what ever it is that will keep you out of the dentist office for the longest amount of time afterward, lol.

Oh, and I just turned 37. So, I should know better about taking good care of my teeth.

[CountryWolf07]

I've had one, I think it was at least a year and a 1/2 ago. No big deal. And I'm 22.

[K9karen]

I had one root canal. The only problem for me was keeping my mouth open so long because of TMJ. My jaws locked off and on and I started crying. Had no pain from the actual root canal itself that I can remember.

Whether to have root canal, filling or pulled tooth, is a hard call. I guess you have to trust your dentist. I inherited peridontal disease from my dad. He lost all his teeth early due to weak, infected gums. He suffered with his dentures from that point on. (couldn't afford implants). So I had gum surgery a few years back and NO problems since. My point is that after witnessing my dad (and I guess everyone is different) I'd do whatever it takes to keep my own teeth if I possibly can.