New member w/a Root Canal question

[HLundquist]

Hi everyone!

I've always had a fear for dentists, due to pain in past experiences (not all of them though of course!) with fillings/cavities and such.

I go for my 1st of 2 root canals (plus I need quite a few fillings coming up of old fillings wearing down due to grinding teeth over the years) on Wednesday. It's on a lower front tooth. I know it will be easier than the other root canal tooth (left back tooth, chipped a bit last year, old filling) I'll be having done.... because it's 1 root for the front tooth.. and both will be crowned.

I opted to not go for laughing gas (nitrous) and just ask to be thoroughly numbed. I've had a root canal done on a tooth (one that got pulled shortly after that root canal) years ago (14 yrs ago) and had 5 shots done (the max they said they could do lol!) on that tooth's gums (it was a left back tooth that used to be next to the one I'll be getting root canaled another visit to get completely numbed and felt nothing

I guess I just wanna hear folk's experiences with front tooth root canals Thanks! x

 

[Deck2015]

HL - I've had RCT on front uppers more than 20 years ago and I had another RCT on a front, single canal tooth done very recently. Verdict? SO MUCH FASTER TODAY!!

The Endo has specialized equipment, super awesome & expensive microscopes, and your canals are measured electronically and the imaging is just outstanding. Seriously, I was booked for 90 mins but a good 20 mins of that was letting the local take effect while my Endo was doing a consult with a new patient.

I felt nothing and was only aware of pressure but ZERO 'pain' -- no kidding. I did it wide awake, no happy pills so my awareness was 100% but I fell into a semi-sleep state...laying down that long always makes me tired (this is why I schedule dental procedures for the end of the day whenever possible...I'm just tired and useless afterward).

My advice (take or leave it) - Go to an Endodontist. They do RCT all day long, they may have equipment that your regular Dentist hasn't invested in because the equipment is used mostly for Endo work, and they're very quick...because they do it all day, every day. Most Dentists I've seen don't even offer to do Endo or Extracts anymore...it's all farmed out to specialists, but that's in your best interest.

 

[HLundquist]

Deck,

Hi there!

I opted out of nitrous as I originally was going to do, (laughing gas) because as long as I'm numbed good, I am not concerned with pain. I remember getting a RCT on a rear left lower tooth maaaany years ago at a Swedish dentistry (when I lived in Sweden) and they didn't offer sedation, just a max of 5 novocaine shots All I felt after I was numbed up to the max, was pressure, as I recall. Unfortunately, that rear tooth had to get extracted within a week due to me breaking it with it's temporary crown.

Thanks so much for your reply!
/Heather