I
ilostmysoul
Member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2014
- Messages
- 27
Hello everyone.
~10 years ago I had my first non-filling treatment and it was a root canal on a lower jaw molar.
It left me absolutely terrified and traumatized of dentists. The first appointment, which I thought would be the toughest one, actually went ok. Second one (cleaning the tooth again before sealing it with a more permanent filling while prepping for crown) was HORRIBLE.
Everything was going okay when out of the blue my dentist injected me directly inside the tooth. It was an antagonizing pain. Yes, it only lasted for a few seconds but it has traumatized me ever since. I actually jumped on that chair and it was the worst pain I felt in my life, at least so far. Maybe I'm just lucky, idk, the only pain that comes close to that was cutting my thumb down to the muscle and having to disinfect it and I still would prefer going over that again that getting another injection in a tooth canal.
The worst part is... it didn't even work at numbing me. Maybe it was psychological because I was in so much panic but I spent the rest of the session shaking and crying. She tried to numb me further everywhere but it didn't work so she canceled treatment to prevent nerve damage from excessive numbing. Prescribed Valium 10mg for the next appointment, which also did not work because I was so traumatized. She canceled treatment again.
Ended up switching dentists. New dentist explained that these teeth usually have 3 canals, but this one had 4, so most likely my dentist was caught by surprise by the 4th canal and that's why she had to inject on it directly, which doesn't make much sense to me, as in, why would this be any different than what was done for the first 3 canals? Either way she did complete treatment without using that injection again.
However, now, 10 years later, I switched dentists again and did an XRay. New dentist + second opinion found out that this root canal was badly done. It has an underlying infection that has caused some bone loss and it will need to be redone. I also have an upper molar that will need to undergo RCT as well. It has a dead nerve, some bone loss, and an infection (not active I think - there is a flap behind the tooth that's opening up some times to kick bacteria off, if I understood it right).
I talked this situation over with my new dentist and she said *most likely* I won't need to have that injection again (according to her, lower molar has no nerves and upper molar has at least one dead nerve which means the injection isn't needed and also I would be taking antibiotics prior to treatment). I've tried to make it clear that I am not willing to undergo that injection again and asked her to cancel treatment before she applies it. I'd rather remove the tooth or be put under altogether.
However, I've been reading online and apparently there's no way out of this injection once infection takes place :c? How does this work? If antibiotics prevent this injection from happening, then why does it exist in the first place and why do people not simply take antibiotics? And if dead nerves also prevent this injection, what stops me from just holding on for a few more months and letting them die before treatment?
Thank you!
~10 years ago I had my first non-filling treatment and it was a root canal on a lower jaw molar.
It left me absolutely terrified and traumatized of dentists. The first appointment, which I thought would be the toughest one, actually went ok. Second one (cleaning the tooth again before sealing it with a more permanent filling while prepping for crown) was HORRIBLE.
Everything was going okay when out of the blue my dentist injected me directly inside the tooth. It was an antagonizing pain. Yes, it only lasted for a few seconds but it has traumatized me ever since. I actually jumped on that chair and it was the worst pain I felt in my life, at least so far. Maybe I'm just lucky, idk, the only pain that comes close to that was cutting my thumb down to the muscle and having to disinfect it and I still would prefer going over that again that getting another injection in a tooth canal.
The worst part is... it didn't even work at numbing me. Maybe it was psychological because I was in so much panic but I spent the rest of the session shaking and crying. She tried to numb me further everywhere but it didn't work so she canceled treatment to prevent nerve damage from excessive numbing. Prescribed Valium 10mg for the next appointment, which also did not work because I was so traumatized. She canceled treatment again.
Ended up switching dentists. New dentist explained that these teeth usually have 3 canals, but this one had 4, so most likely my dentist was caught by surprise by the 4th canal and that's why she had to inject on it directly, which doesn't make much sense to me, as in, why would this be any different than what was done for the first 3 canals? Either way she did complete treatment without using that injection again.
However, now, 10 years later, I switched dentists again and did an XRay. New dentist + second opinion found out that this root canal was badly done. It has an underlying infection that has caused some bone loss and it will need to be redone. I also have an upper molar that will need to undergo RCT as well. It has a dead nerve, some bone loss, and an infection (not active I think - there is a flap behind the tooth that's opening up some times to kick bacteria off, if I understood it right).
I talked this situation over with my new dentist and she said *most likely* I won't need to have that injection again (according to her, lower molar has no nerves and upper molar has at least one dead nerve which means the injection isn't needed and also I would be taking antibiotics prior to treatment). I've tried to make it clear that I am not willing to undergo that injection again and asked her to cancel treatment before she applies it. I'd rather remove the tooth or be put under altogether.
However, I've been reading online and apparently there's no way out of this injection once infection takes place :c? How does this work? If antibiotics prevent this injection from happening, then why does it exist in the first place and why do people not simply take antibiotics? And if dead nerves also prevent this injection, what stops me from just holding on for a few more months and letting them die before treatment?
Thank you!
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