<p>I think that he’d do four in the future. He kept worrying about me being in pain during the procedure. I didn’t like the huge needles for the numbing stuff (they should make those things shorter so that they don’t look as intimidating) and was just going to play it by ear. I didn’t realize that the pain levels for a RC were much higher than a regular filling or crown.</p>
<p>Most of the numbing is gone now and there is no pain that I can detect nor any aches. He said that those would show up tonight. I have extra-strength tylenol at home just in case. What would be cool is if there were no aches or pains tonight.</p>
<p>One other thing: my regular dentist gave me a prescription for a Z-pack of Azithromycin last Wednesday and it’s a five-day course so I took the last one last night. Apparently it’s a good idea to go on an antibiotic course before having a root canal done.</p>
<p>Root canaled teeth are dead, and tend to become brittle. You want a crown in a reasonable amount of time, for the sake of appearance as well as strength. Otherwise, you can end up with a broken tooth, and need a post to hold the crown on, which involves yet more expense and bother. </p>
<p>I find the comments on root canals interesting-I’ve had so many over the years that I’ve lost count. Aside from being time consuming and expensive, I don’t find them a big deal. But yes, taking care of teeth in the first place is far preferable.</p>
<p>Root canaled teeth are dead, and tend to become brittle. You want a crown in a reasonable amount of time, for the sake of appearance as well as strength. Otherwise, you can end up with a broken tooth, and need a post to hold the crown on, which involves yet more expense and bother. </p>
<p>I find the comments on root canals interesting-I’ve had so many over the years that I’ve lost count. Aside from being time consuming and expensive, I don’t find them a big deal. But yes, taking care of teeth in the first place is far preferable.</p>
<p>I need root canal done where root canal almost grew together. So, consider yourself lucky if you still have root canal shown on X-ray. Mine has to be done under special microscope by dentist who is specializing in this types. I have not been using that side of mouth for many weeks now and still have to wait for 4 more weeks for my new year benefits to start. I have 2 dental coverages, both are used up for implant. I was able to calm down my current problem tooth by taking lots of Advil and dentist has filed the tooth under, so the bad one is not being touched. I believe that I have one of the worst set of teeth in whole country, but I still have them, no dentures.</p>
<p>^Don’t worry. My situation regarding root canal was similar to what you have. There was a lot of calcification in my root canals and it made it very difficult to get down there and clear out the pulp of the canal. The canals were almost completely filled in and blocked by the calcification. I was advised to go to this particular specialist by my regular doctor because of her expertise and the fact that she had the proper tools to deal with the calcification. The first thing that I noticed when I sat in the specialist’s chair was that everything seemed to be set up backwards. My first question to her (yes, her) was, “Are you left handed?” Her answer–“Yes.” Being left-handed myself, I thought it was pretty cool.</p>
<p>In addition to the calcification of the root canals, I had 4 roots to the tooth rather than the typical 3. Everything worked out fine. I did notice a very small abscess near the gum line a few months later after my regular doctor put on the permanent crown. I was given an antibiotic. It went away and I haven’t had any problems at all since.</p>
<p>My dentist sent me to an endodentist that used one of these special microscopes. The part you see as a patient is a lens that’s a few inches wide.</p>
<p>I did some research on my own to see what the problem was and basically wanted to resolve it as soon as possible to get rid of the pain and to get rid of the infection. Infections can cause problems outside of the localized area. The root canal was like a light switch when the numb feeling was gone. I was living with a moderate amount of pain for over a month and it depressed my mood and killed my desire to workout. I did play tennis a few times but my regular running and weights routine was killed for a few weeks. It’s like a big weight being lifted off. I sent an email to my regular dentist to see when I can have the crown done as I would like to get back to chewing food without having to think about where I need to chew it.</p>
<p>Was at the dentist again for a root scale cleaning (1 of 2). Moderate pain but generally less pain than a filling unless their poking around deep in the gums. Round two is tomorrow morning. I had the crown schedule for next week but they found a tooth that needs a filling quickly or else it will become root canal #2. So it looks like filling next week and maybe the crown will be done in 2010. That other tooth that I thought needed a crown might only need an onlay. I guess December is dentist month.</p>
<p>I would rather go through childbirth than have dental work done. I really find it so horrible. A couple of years ago I had a filling replaced in a tooth that was not bothering me at all because the dentist said it had separated from the tooth or some such thing. To say that it turned out to be a butcher job is a gross understatement. Although he told me it was fine, it hurt for months, the bite is completely off, and I regret it every day. My new dentist offered to but on a crown…I will wait until it falls out before I do that.</p>
<p>My H likes to say that he has more crowns than the King of England…</p>
<p>I was supposed to get the crown today but the dentist did a crown on a different tooth that had decay. We were hoping that the repair wouldn’t require a root canal as it probably would have meant capping it and going to the specialist again. So I have a cap on this one and it’s going out to the lab (can’t use his own machine to do this one). So two crowns and a 1/2 root scaling.</p>
<p>My own dentist has a new machine for delivering novacaine which works (and looks) much better than those huge syringes. I could get used to no pain.</p>
<p>“I guess that gives me a relative idea of the pain level of childbirth.”</p>
<p>I’ve had a wisdom tooth extracted with no anesthesia (small town dentist and a teenager afraid of syringes kind of situation) and a childbirth with 18-hr labor and no epidural. Frankly, if I had to choose one of the two, I’d pick the tooth extraction ;)</p>
<p>I’m lucky to have a dentist who handles everything (root canals, implants, grafts, etc. ) in his office. Thanks for the reminder - I have to give him a call, since DD is due for dental cleaning. LOL about the boat show :)</p>
<p>Alright, you people sound like experts. I am awake at 4 a.m. because I am in such pain. At first, we thought it was a burst ear drum and got on antibiotics while out of town for the holiday, but after seeing the doc on Monday, he said there is no ear issue, that it is referred pain. I am suffering now from Bell’s Palsy and so am on an anti-viral and prednisone. Now the pain is deep in my lower right jaw, and I think it’s all being brought on by an abcessed tooth or something. I had a root canal on that side early this year, and it was incredibly painful as the dentist doesn’t believe in “totally deadening the area.” Whatever. It hurt like hell. I’m going to call him tomorrow on an emergency basis to get this taken care of. My PCP gave me Vicodin, and it’s not doing enough to allow me to sleep. I’m hesitant to take another one because I hate meds. If it’s the far back tooth I will consider extraction, I guess.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay, good luck. This sounds incredibly painful. Sometimes an extraction is the only way to go. I hope you’ve been in touch with your dentist already and that you’re in the chair right now.</p>
^<br>