Nervous about root canal...

[skasumi]

Last Thursday I was flossing my teeth before bed and a small chunk of my filling on my upper left molar came out. I've been putting off seeing the dentist for about 5 years (I'm 28, I used to have a really crappy job with shit insurance) but I went ahead and got an appointment the next day, thinking they'd just refill it and I'd finally get a good mouth cleaning.

Well, in addition to 9 cavities, the dentist showed me an X-ray of that back molar. The filling fell out because decay had gotten beneath it (I can confirm that whenever I flossed - and I do floss regularly - that tooth smelled like death) and that decay was basically knocking on the door of my pulp/nerve. The dentist said he was surprised I wasn't in any pain, but idk, on the X-ray it looked like they were bridged by a very thin canal. Anyway, he said I should get a root canal done to ensure the tooth's integrity. I mostly trust him because this is the same place my roommate got her extractions done and she's happy.

Being the anxious butt head I am, I went to google. And, um, a lot of places online think a root canal is awful, and will give you cancer and diseases, or if it doesn't do that it will certainly become infected again anyway and give me problems. So now I'm a huge wreck, I don't know if this is right for me and I'm afraid I'll be turning a decent mouth into a cess pool. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[ScaredyCat22]

Last Thursday I was flossing my teeth before bed and a small chunk of my filling on my upper left molar came out. I've been putting off seeing the dentist for about 5 years (I'm 28, I used to have a really crappy job with shit insurance) but I went ahead and got an appointment the next day, thinking they'd just refill it and I'd finally get a good mouth cleaning.

Well, in addition to 9 cavities, the dentist showed me an X-ray of that back molar. The filling fell out because decay had gotten beneath it (I can confirm that whenever I flossed - and I do floss regularly - that tooth smelled like death) and that decay was basically knocking on the door of my pulp/nerve. The dentist said he was surprised I wasn't in any pain, but idk, on the X-ray it looked like they were bridged by a very thin canal. Anyway, he said I should get a root canal done to ensure the tooth's integrity. I mostly trust him because this is the same place my roommate got her extractions done and she's happy.

Being the anxious butt head I am, I went to google. And, um, a lot of places online think a root canal is awful, and will give you cancer and diseases, or if it doesn't do that it will certainly become infected again anyway and give me problems. So now I'm a huge wreck, I don't know if this is right for me and I'm afraid I'll be turning a decent mouth into a cess pool. Any advice is appreciated.

I can not promise you that your root canal will last you the rest of your life without ever needing to be retreated, or that it won't some day have more decay, but I can promise you it does not cause cancer. those are myths, based off some crack pot long discredited dentist. None of that stuff about Causing cancer or other diseases is true. what is true is that your root canaled tooth may last you many many more years, or it may need retreatment or may get decayed same as any other tooth and that you may some day end up needing it worked on again or extracted just like any other tooth. no cancer. I promise.

 

[kemmie777]

The majority of root canals end up being fine and do not need further treatment as long as you take care of the teeth and keep the crown and gums clean. Some do require retreatment. Sometimes a small canal is missed by the dentist. I almost had this happen. However I had decided to see an endodontist to have it done and he used a dental microscope which allowed him to see my canals magnified. I've never had a root canal retreated and I have had a couple for about 15 years now. I do have a friend who needed to have one retreated after a few years but she said it wasn't anything different than a regular one. I think her dentist referred her to an endodontist for it. I also recommend you get the tooth crowned as soon as you can once you are sure the procedure was successful i.e. Your tooth doesn't hurt when anything cold or hot touches it and there isn't any weird pressure or pain after the tooth canal and while there is temp crown on it. You will be sore and a little achy/throbby for a couple of days afterwards but nothing severe and it would feel better little by little. To give you an idea I was able to go back to work the next day with out issue and one time I had it done at noon and by 5 I was eating pancakes and on my way to the movies. I was younger then. Now a days I would probably just lay down and demand pampering lol. My pain tolerance seems to have decreased with age

As for the cancer warnings and myths of that nature there is absolutely no proof of it. People like to fear monger and the same people who tell you root canals cause cancer and other ailments are most likely the same people who claim the government can control how hot it is any given day by pressing a button to control the sun.

If you decide to go forward know that your dentist will ensure it is pain free during and give you instructions and tools to make you as comfortable as possible afterwards. Additionally you have a friend you has used the dentist for extractions and she had a positive experience.

 

[Scarlett88]

Last Thursday I was flossing my teeth before bed and a small chunk of my filling on my upper left molar came out. I've been putting off seeing the dentist for about 5 years (I'm 28, I used to have a really crappy job with shit insurance) but I went ahead and got an appointment the next day, thinking they'd just refill it and I'd finally get a good mouth cleaning.

Well, in addition to 9 cavities, the dentist showed me an X-ray of that back molar. The filling fell out because decay had gotten beneath it (I can confirm that whenever I flossed - and I do floss regularly - that tooth smelled like death) and that decay was basically knocking on the door of my pulp/nerve. The dentist said he was surprised I wasn't in any pain, but idk, on the X-ray it looked like they were bridged by a very thin canal. Anyway, he said I should get a root canal done to ensure the tooth's integrity. I mostly trust him because this is the same place my roommate got her extractions done and she's happy.

Being the anxious butt head I am, I went to google. And, um, a lot of places online think a root canal is awful, and will give you cancer and diseases, or if it doesn't do that it will certainly become infected again anyway and give me problems. So now I'm a huge wreck, I don't know if this is right for me and I'm afraid I'll be turning a decent mouth into a cess pool. Any advice is appreciated.

I used to believe that root canals are painful and complicated, but not anymore. I am currently getting thru a complex root canal treatment. I had a tooth that had a huge gap on it so big, that one side of the tooth fell out. So you can take it a big decay. But as I still had sensitivity in it and it sometimes hurt a little the docs now have found a way to give it a root canal and a crown.
1, These days root canals are not awful. They were 20-30 years ago - hence the myths - but not in 2016. They numb you up very heavily so you wont feel any pain! You will "feel" them being inside your tooth when they clean the roots but it is really not painful, might be a bit unpleasant. But must importantly it is nothing to worry about. My biggest fear used to be aware of dental procedures, but I survived this without any problems.
2, Pain. With root canal they basically kill off the nerves in your tooth. Like killing out the ability to feel pain in that tooth. So if you do feel anything any time at any point during or after the procedure let your doc know. There is a 0.1% chance they miss a part. If they do your tooth might hurt after the root cleaning part. Or might be sensitive. It is not crazy pain. Just watch out for that tooth during and a few days after the procedure. iIf you feel something is off let the doc know so they can adjust. There won't be anything. just better to know for yourself that you can be 100% honest with the doctor as the goal of this is for your tooth to not feel pain at all.
With me they also double checked without pain killers the nerves if I feel anything. But they do my root canal+crown in like 3-4 treatments. I think usually they do it in 1 or 2. So if you would like me to go into more details about the whole procedure I can detail.
But honestly nothing to worry about!

 

[FearfulInMA]

Step away from the Google...

As others have said, root canals don't cause cancer or any of the other crazy things people claim. I've had 4. They were all successful. My last recent 2 were in the mornings and I went back to work the same day after both of them. I was in so much pain from those tooth prior to the root canals that I was jumping for joy afterwards.

If you are able to have the root canal done by an endodontist, they tend to have a higher success rate than general dentists.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Thephilsblogbar]

Agree with above user about Google stay away

I had a root canal done in 2006 even though I had 3 dental appointments to sort it out, my mum cover my ears up as one of our neighbours her daughter who were three or four years older than myself had one done and my parents did not want to worry me.

 

[skasumi]

Thank you everyone for your kind words - it really helps me so much! It's a lot easier to talk down my anxiety when I have actual experiences from other people to reference. My root canal is scheduled for Wednesday, so I'm just trying to remain calm until then. Fortunately the place that I'm going is very into sedation dentistry for patients with high anxiety; I only paid about $4.75 at the pharmacy for 2 super drowsy anxiety meds for my appointment. When I get there, they'll give me laughing gas as well before they start numbing me. It's pretty assured that I will be out of it for most of the visit.

I'm not sure if the doctor performing my root canal is an endodontist, so I'll probably give them a call tomorrow and ask. The regular dentist has several other practitioners he works with for different treatments. When my roommate got her wisdom teeth removed, he had someone else perform the extraction.

They have a machine that can make the crown in about 2 hours, so he did mention that the likelihood of getting my crown same day is very high. If not, he said I can get it that same week. I'll be on the lookout for cold, hot and pressure sensitivity

In the meantime, I have stepped away from Google! As soon as I posted this I resolved not to look up anything else. This forum was the same one to give me comfort six years ago when I had my wisdom teeth removed so I knew there was no other place to go.

 

[skasumi]

I called the dentist's office this morning and confirmed the dentist who will be performing my root canal is a general dentist. I'm still a little fearful because it's a molar that will be getting the root canal and I've heard molars are the trickiest teeth.

 

[FearfulInMA]

You should still be fine! All 4 of my RCTs are on back molars... They were long, but all went well.

 

[kemmie777]

If it helps one of the endodontist that worked on of my teeth said that upper molars are really hard to botch up. And I had a couple of my upper molars done by a general dentist and they are fine.