Can everyone share their root canal experiences?

anyone care to post a step by step? were they painful? how long did they take to do, how did you feel after?
thank you for sharing your stories

Had one donkeys years ago which was ok...not painful but not relaxing over 3 appointments, 2 long appointments and 1 very short.

The good news is I had a molar one recently to deal with a toothache when a filling failed, over 2 long appointments and it was relaxing in comparison...no pain whatsoever..almost fell asleep at one point. Had been told LA could be topped up as required at any stage (but not necessary)...very little discomfort after first appointment(took paracetamol once) and no discomfort at all after the second.

Only downside is having to keep your mouth open for so long - if you had TMJ it might be a bit unwelcome. Rubber dam is a bonus as it feels like it is your tooth being worked on and not you...it's as if you are not really involved!

So with the right dentist/endodontist it is no big deal...just on the expensive side. I just had local anaesthetic nothing else and zero pain from start to finish.

I had a root canal done YEARS ago. It took 3 gruelling appointments. The freezing didn't take and it felt as if the dentist was pulling a tiny cheese grater up and down the root of my tooth. The dentist knew I was scared and so he said that I wasn't in pain, that it was just my imagination because of my fear. The idiot!

In between having the root canal done and the tooth capped, I developed a very painful infection. Had to go on antibiotics and painkillers.

Needless to say my root canal experience was not a positive one, but I think that was more because of the dentist than the actual procedure.

I do have to say that after all that, the tooth looked beautiful and it lasted, without any problems, for more than a decade.

I've had two root canals in the last five years. Both of them were on incisors, which only have one canal, and therefore they didn't take very long to do. I honestly didn't feel anything, novocaine seems to work quite well on me. It wasn't greatly different to having a filling, to be honest.

Sadly I have now lost both of the teeth in question, as they became brittle and eventually broke (neither of them were crowned, nor was that ever mentioned.) This can happen with root canals, unfortunately. I know I've been unlucky and that some teeth can last for many years after this treatment; however, in my case I don't think I'd bother again. Now that I have dentures it's easier (and cheaper !) to get the tooth extracted and have another one added to the denture.

John

I've had a lot of root canals. most are still in my mouth with one older than 30years. My last two were painless.

They have certainly gotten easier over the last three decades. But probably the majority of my older ones were started on a "hot" tooth- I tend to abscess.

Trust me, from someone who needs implants to replace lost teeth or face dentures, a root canal is a far less evil.

I can't speak for myself - still waiting on mine - but my mother has had several done. The first was on a molar and it was done by a dentist instead of an endo. The dentist missed a few canals, which became infected and then she eventually had the tooth pulled.

She had a few in the mean time that weren't pleasant, but she said they were only sore afterward, kind of like she'd been grinding her teeth all night.

The most recent root canal, though, went very smoothly. She went to see an amazing endo in the area and he had the whole thing done in two appointments. The first was the canal and rebuild (about 45 minutes). The second was a quick appointment for the crown (less than half a hour, if memory serves). She said her jaw felt sore after keeping her mouth open for 45 minutes, but she had none of the discomfort she had in her teeth from the last ones.

thank you everyone for sharing!

If i can add my experience

To me, is was nothing more than a large filling. It just took a bit longer and more fumbling about and that, but it was no different. The only thing which almost freaked me was the dentist wanted to do it without LA and when I turned white and started shaking, he decided for my sake he'd better give me one.

Other than that, nothing to it really.

GD, love your story, thanks for sharing!

I've had two in the past few months, the second one was a bit uncomfortable but OK, both took a while to settle down completly afterwards but no pain.

The rubber dam did make it feel as it was not my mouth being worked on, a strange sensation really.

Would I have another - yes, if I was given a choice of root canal or extraction then root canal every time. Not just because its better to keep your teeth if possible but a root canal really is just a filling that takes a while. In fact I find them easier to cope with as its real fine work in the soft part of the tooth, not a physical thing at all.

If you feel up to reading the relevant part of my journal then you need page 7, post 64 onwards:
I've allowed this phobia to rule me for too long
post 64 is the first part of the first RCT, post 76 is the first part of RCT number two.

Root canals no longer deserve the bad press they got from years ago.