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Is 4 weeks wait for a root canal too long?

K

kevinlad

Junior member
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
8
Hi, new in this forum. I've just got a checkup yesterday, after a month long tooth ache (I had been hoping the pain would go but it didn't). I was told I need a root canal treatment. As the dental practice is very busy, the earliest I can get booked in is almost 4 weeks after! The pain is not unbearable (I just take painkillers when I need it). My worry is though, would 4 weeks wait worsen my teeth's situation? Also, I feel pain not just on one tooth, but the nearby teeth up and down (not sure if it is just my imagination).
 
I needed a rct and waited longer than 4 weeks to have it done, so I would think you will be okay, if painkillers are dealing with it, that is good it means you haven't got an infection yet.

If the pain gets worse and the painkillers don't work you need to go back before then and let them have a look and make sure you don't have an infection.

The other teeth hurting is probably transferred pain and it is quite possible that it is this tooth causing the pain in the other teeth, I had pain in some of my other teeth and this is what it was. :)

To answer your question yes it is alright to wait 4 weeks. ;)
 
Thanks Carole, I know that I could have it quicker if I go to a private dentist (but of course very expensive). Do you know if private treatments are any better than NHS, as far as rct is concerned?
 
Well they do say that it is best to see a specialist an I have forgotten their correct title but someone will come along and give the name hopefully.

I have had 2 rct's as an NHS patient as I cannot afford to go private, I am very lucky in that the practice where I go is very good, the first rct I had has been successful as far as I know, this was on a tooth that had had an abscess on it for over 20 months and after a few courses of antibiotics and a rct I still have this tooth, I should be getting it crowned in June because it has been 6 months since it was done. My dentist wanted to wait to make sure it was okay before the crown was put on. This seems to be normal practice in the NHS. It has been fine with the filling in it.

I had a second tooth done in March this has kept getting infections since it was done and it is slightly loose so I am having this one extracted next week, because my dentist says this one has failed.

I also had 2 teeth that were given root canal treatments over 20 years ago, and I still have those, they were done on the NHS as well, so there is no way yours shouldn't be successful, as long as your dentist does them right, and from what I understand all dentists are trained to do this so you should be okay. Nobody can say for sure if a rct will be a success or not it is a 50-50 gamble, they often are a success. So I wouldn't worry, you will be fine.

Your tooth should be fine, and a rct should be successful, most dentists will not do a rct unless they think that it has a high rate of success because they take a lot longer to do than just extracting the tooth and there are no financial gains for an NHS dentist to do this. A lot of NHS dentists won't do them because of the financial situation so it is good that yours is prepared to do it. Have you had one before, and are you worried about having it.:)
 
Hi kevin, I asked a dentist this question a while ago (i.e. when they themselves would choose an endodontist, which is a specialist for root canal treatments), and they said they would choose an endodontist for any tooth behind a premolar (i.e. any molar) and for any tooth if it was a retreatment of an previously root canal treated tooth.

However, endodontists are more expensive and it depends on whether you can afford to go this route.

Time is also a key with root canal treatment - on the NHS, dentists may not be able to spend as much time clearing out the crud from the canals and disinfecting them, which is vitally important for the success of root treatment. Also, make sure that a rubber dam is used.

One thing you could ask your dentist is how high they estimate the success rate for your root canal treatment to be, and if you find it too low, ask an endodontist for their evaluation.
 
Hi!

I've had pain in several teeth that ended up having RCT. It's hard to tell if it will worsen or not, with my teeth it just got gradually worse, not dramatically worse suddenly, just worse little by little.

If you are really bothered by the pain or are taking pain meds all the time, definitely contact the dental office. There is an emergency treatment that doesn't take too long that they should be able to squeeze into their scedule. They could also help you with different pain meds or how to get the best effect out of the ones that you have.

I hope this helps!

Good luck!
 
Even endodontists have teeth (not always even molars) that they cannot save despite trying - even in the absence of decay originally. Norwegianchick(I think) and I both have personal experience of this being the case and personal experience of teeth being saved by rct from an endo and in my case twice from a private general dentist using magnification as well. In fact my personal success score is Endo 1: Gen Dentist 2 - out of a total of 4 but the Gen Dentist was not an NHS one, enjoyed rct, spent ages doing it and used magnification.

However based on my own recent experience I think it is better to get any tooth treated sooner rather than later. Virulent bugs get a hold if antibiotics are used a lot.
I had to wait up to 3 weeks for some endo appointments even though you could get a consult for the next day. Infection returned despite antibiotics and I think this is not only unpleasant and puts your life on hold; but also makes the tooth harder to treat successfully.

Norwegianchick is right your general dentist can 'get you out of pain' and start things off, mine did this on a retreat for me when I was sick of waiting for endo and eventually this retreat was done successfully. The procedure is called an 'open and med'.

I take a dim view of endodontists sending people away for 3 weeks and telling them to take painkillers and antibiotics - how good do they think constant painkillers is for our livers?

So I wouldn't personally want an NHS root canal but I think a good General dentist one done immediately is sometimes better than waiting with infection for a busy endo. (BTW I am not in UK, UK private endos maybe can see people much more quickly...in fact it should be like childbirth - you are seen as required lol).
 
I had all of my RCT done by an endodontist with proper equipment, hygiene and magnification. I still chose to chuck my wisdom tooth in the incinerator (couldn't be bothered to do any treatment to a tooth that wasn't useful to me), and I did lose a molar that we tried to save for a long time, my other teeth got better, but not this. I'd have RCT with an endodontist again if I needed it, not just because of the success rate, but they are also generally good at making them quick and painless. But what you choose also depends on your economy and other factors.

I'm not a dentist, but the pain you experience from a tooth doesn't necessarily mean that you have an infection or that treatment is urgent. I'm sure your dentist has assessed this situation already. In my case, I had inflammation in the dental pulp that wouldn't go away. This is not a dangerous situation, it's just painful.

Definitely contact your dental office if you are worried about possible infection or can't handle the pain. They are there to help you.
 
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