I'd Rather Have A Root Canal.

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]So here I am staring face first into the yawning pit of my day tomorrow morning at the dentists. The endodontist assures me it is time for a root canal. Two root canals. Maybe three.

And now that I have dental insurance again, the catastrophic kind by the way, it's time to see the damage and get it fixed. Back molar on the left side has a visible cavity, but having no insurance for five years of course meant it went untreated. Sure I brush but sometimes you just can't do a thing. I mean I've had cavities filled before but never had a root canal. I've had teeth extracted while awake for it and wisdom teeth coming in crooked and braces for three years.

And yet I am terrified. How bad will it be?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Well all I can do is wish you luck with the appointment since I've never had one done before so I don't know if it's bad or not. o_O I've heard both. People who were so relieved by the pain being less once the procedure was done and others who hurt worse afterwards. Either way, I'm sure it will be nice to finally have it fixed. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="DarkGreen"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]My mom has had one in the past and though she hated the procedure, like Beth just said, it was a real relief for her since the pain, even with the root canal being done was a whole lot better pretty much immediately.

Then of course there was the relief of it being gone completely once she had healed from having it done. So... hang in there, you'll be glad you got it taken care of. :catgirl:[/FONT][/COLOR]

[James]

[quote]I've had teeth extracted while awake for it and wisdom teeth coming in crooked and braces for three years.
[/quote]

[font=franklin gothic medium]If you've had tooth extractions (especially molars at all), then I would not be worried about a root canal.

I've had one filling and one tooth extraction (the latter was the removal of a molar in order to make room for a wisdom tooth that was growing in).

I think the worst part is the thought of it, but really, it isn't so bad. The tooth extraction was annoying because it took a long time and required multiple anaesthetic injections (at one point the dentist had to put her foot on the chair and try to rip the tooth out because it wouldn't move, haha).

Having said all of that, the part that most bothered me personally was the aftermath, in that it was kind of messy and annoying. I didn't like holding the gauze for ages and not being able to eat. And, in general, it was a bit annoying when the anaesthetic began to wear off.

So I think if you can go through something like that, root canal isn't too bad. A woman at work has had two recently and it hasn't been much of a problem.

Basically as long as you're under anaesthetic, they can drive a truck over your face and you wouldn't notice. The only annoying part is if there is any ongoing mess or issues post-surgery.

In any case I'm sure you'll be fine. As I said, if you can tolerate the removal of a tooth then a root canal shouldn't be too bad at all - this is especially true if they removed a molar, because those are apparently quite a not nastier than regular teeth.[/font]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Now if they only gave you a general anesthetic before giving you mamograms... Since the experience is pretty much like a truck driving over your chest. A refrigerated truck at that.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[John]

What James said. I really don't get the whole hubbub over root canals; when they did it to me, I didn't feel a thing during or afterwards.

I've had an excavation (like James, a molar to make room for my wisdom teeth), and it freaked me out a lot more. No pain during the operation, of course, and not much afterwards since I was smart enough to pop some pills quickly, but having a guy shove a tiny crowbar between my teeth and pry until I felt something break in my mouth was pretty intense.

[Sara]

[quote name='John']I've had an excavation (like James, a molar to make room for my wisdom teeth), and it freaked me out a lot more. [/QUOTE][font=trebuchet ms]I was surprised when I saw James's post, and even more so now that I've seen yours. Until just now I had never heard of anyone having teeth removed to make way for wisdom teeth. The general pattern in my area seems to be: "There's not enough room for your wisdom teeth. They will not fit in your mouth, so they will come in crooked and at weird angles, if at all. We will then chloroform you and yank them out. You will be in pain for the next week."[/font]

[Lady Aura]

[CENTER][FONT="Palatino Linotype"]I had to have three root canals when I was in 6th grade. Really, though, it's not as bad as you might think.

You don't feel it, unless you decide to be a smart-*** like I did and bite down on the needle-things that they put in your cavities.

Dr. J (My dentist): Emily, don't bite down on those.

Me: Mm-hm. -Bites down-

Screams were heard from the waiting room.

But if you don't do something like that, you won't have a problem. You won't even feel it because I'm sure that they'll numb your mouth.

Just stay calm while the dentist is working.[/FONT][/CENTER]

[liamc2]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="1"]I've had a root canal before [bah, so many many dental appointments] and I have to say, it was [i]awesome[/i]. I'm not going to go into the details of the procedures, in case you get wigged out, but I thought the whole affair was kinda cool.

After the anaesthetic and the whole nonsense, if you have a good dentist you're going to be fine. I don't know of anyone who was traumatised by root canals. If anything [thanks to the local] it's a little uncomfortable and you feel a little dehydrated afterward.

Don't stress about it ^_^

PS: The whole left side of my face was numb and I went to get lunch because I was starving = amusing in hindsight. I couldn't taste a thing, but it smelt oh so gooooood[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Raiha]

[quote name='Sara'][font=trebuchet ms]I was surprised when I saw James's post, and even more so now that I've seen yours. Until just now I had never heard of anyone having teeth removed to make way for wisdom teeth. The general pattern in my area seems to be: "There's not enough room for your wisdom teeth. They will not fit in your mouth, so they will come in crooked and at weird angles, if at all. We will then chloroform you and yank them out. You will be in pain for the next week."[/font][/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]In my case it's a genetics dice roll that I lost. My mother has a small jaw and big teeth. My father has a big jaw and big teeth. No extra points for guessing how I got my jaw built for me.

So they had to take out four teeth in purpose before my braces with looking to the future of when they would have to take out my wisdom teeth as well. And in point of fact they didnt' even wait for those to come in fully before they were in there hacking away. At least for that they knocked me out completely and I didn't realize anything had happened until I woke up with blood caked on my face. Actually I'm pretty sure it was blood AND drool. .....urgh.

But as far as tomorrow's joyous occasion it may very well turn out to be root canal(s) plural. I figure at least this time as opposed to when I was 9 I won't be terrified of the needle to numb the pain. In a bid to become less of a wuss I started donating blood recently, so it can't be so bad. Can it? *psycho theme music*[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Rachmaninoff]

Like James said, if you've had other things done before, you'll do fine. Plus like Aaryanna said, everyone I know who's had it done was rather pleased to have the pain dealt with. Especially once they healed up.

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well of COURSE the dentists office will have lost my paperwork and proved themselves incapable of finding my chart. Why it wasn't merely filed with the hundreds of others we'll never know. Of course once I had been sitting in the office for an hour while they vaguely pattered through filing cabinets they finally found it wedged in a corner.

And then, then they made a mistake with the insurance company so now a consultation fee to SPEAK with an endodontist capable of sawing into my back left molar will be over 300 dollars which means no bloody chance you unreasonable dicks. And now we do the Kabuki dance of insurance agent and patient with a serious pain in her molar. Oh what I wouldn't give to be an arsonist.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Doublehex]

[quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well of COURSE the dentists office will have lost my paperwork and proved themselves incapable of finding my chart. Why it wasn't merely filed with the hundreds of others we'll never know. Of course once I had been sitting in the office for an hour while they vaguely pattered through filing cabinets they finally found it wedged in a corner.

And then, then they made a mistake with the insurance company so now a consultation fee to SPEAK with an endodontist capable of sawing into my back left molar will be over 300 dollars which means no bloody chance you unreasonable dicks. And now we do the Kabuki dance of insurance agent and patient with a serious pain in her molar. Oh what I wouldn't give to be an arsonist.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

My advice: move to England. No one cares how bad your teeth is there!