Re root canal or extract

[MountainMama]

The nhs dentist I saw Saturday rung me today and has referred me to someone else! He’s super expensive but he’s prob the best here in Cardiff where I live! He actually teaches Endodontics so hopefully he’ll have some ideas! Also hoping gp can confirm things tomorrow x

Oh good! Sometimes it is worth it to pay more, just to make sure it is done right.

 

[saralou35]

I’ve stumbled upon some articles & vids tonight about how bad root canals are and now I’m freaking out that I’m doing the wrong thing seeing an Endodontist for a poss retreat and I should just get it pulled? Are root canals really as bad as they say? I’m so fixated on my teeth at the mo! I just want to be out of pain

 

[MountainMama]

I’ve stumbled upon some articles & vids tonight about how bad root canals are and now I’m freaking out that I’m doing the wrong thing seeing an Endodontist for a poss retreat and I should just get it pulled? Are root canals really as bad as they say? I’m so fixated on my teeth at the mo! I just want to be out of pain

I have seen some of those articles, too, and if you look at the big picture, they are more about the long term infection from failures, or are more about holistic approaches. Overall, root canals will save your tooth for the long run.

Believe me, I have gone back and forth with the apicoectomy option vs extraction as well, as apicos have a high failure rate, and may only last 5 years. I keep telling myself that if I don't do it, I will always wonder if I could have saved the tooth. If I do it and it fails, then I will have tried.

 

[letsconnect]

Some of the websites you've been looking at almost certainly belong to a guy called Joseph Mercola (and others like him), who's making a fortune out of selling "health supplements" online (you can read more about him in this article: [broken link removed - similar info can be found here: https://quackwatch.org/11Ind/mercola/] ). He's a clever guy - he bought his website domain back in 1997 when the Internet was in its infancy, so he got lots of other websites linking to his site over the years, and as a result his pages often come up first during Google searches (despite the quacky content).

Mercola (or his team) latched onto a book published in 1993 by a retired dentist called George Meinig, who was convinced that root-filled teeth cause many illnesses. His book was based on research in the 1920s by a guy called Weston Price, an American dentist and dietician. Price came up with his "focal infection theory", which alleged a link between endodontically treated teeth and broader systemic disease. Compared to modern scientific research, Price's research was rather haphazard (lacking proper control groups amongst other issues).

Price's theory fell out of favour in the 1930s (not until after lots of people had had their root-canalled teeth and tonsils extracted!). It seems to me that Meinig was a conspiracy theorist who was convinced that there was a massive cover-up of Weston Price's findings by the scientific community and his fellow dentists (hence the title of his book, "Root Canal Cover-Up").

Weston Price's research findings have never been replicated. Having said that, root canal treatment in the 1920s was pretty primitive and not sterile at all, so it wouldn't be all that surprising if some people did suffer from nasty side effects at the time.

In short - don't believe everything you read on the Internet . There is almost always some commercial interest behind alternative health sites, and most of this involves selling "health supplements" (some of them decidedly dodgy).

 

[saralou35]

yes I don’t believe most of it but got me worried! I don’t seem to have any extra illnesses since my root canal! As I see itsaving a tooth you need to chew food and get nutritionis far more valuable!

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Saralou

I know what you mean about those videos i watched alot for implants and root planing and scaling and there were alot to convince that it is the worst or it is the best, so many thoughts and ways out there.. and alot of these can scare us who need treatment.

I think My dentist said it best one time, I was joking about watching the youtube videos before and he made a very good point ,, that youtube and google do not know YOU and cannot see YOUR teeth.. so cannot really advise you in the most safe best ways for your care..so not to scare myself with all the possibilities and fear factors out there.. it made SO MUCH SENSE...

of course I still do from time to time for other health procedures. but.. for dental I really try to heed his advice because I really respect and trust him now.

p.s. I"ve had I don't know how many root canals .... maybe 8-10.. and no issues after...

 

[saralou35]

Saralou

I know what you mean about those videos i watched alot for implants and root planing and scaling and there were alot to convince that it is the worst or it is the best, so many thoughts and ways out there.. and alot of these can scare us who need treatment.

I think My dentist said it best one time, I was joking about watching the youtube videos before and he made a very good point ,, that youtube and google do not know YOU and cannot see YOUR teeth.. so cannot really advise you in the most safe best ways for your care..so not to scare myself with all the possibilities and fear factors out there.. it made SO MUCH SENSE...

of course I still do from time to time for other health procedures. but.. for dental I really try to heed his advice because I really respect and trust him now.

p.s. I"ve had I don't know how many root canals .... maybe 8-10.. and no issues after...

Have you ever had any retreated? I’ve inly had this one and it’s never been right but dentist did say it was difficult! And newxddentust saw on X-ray not all canals filled great so maybe why it’s failed now after having a crown as it’s stirred everything up!

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Saralou,

I had one retreated by a regular dentist not an endodontist.. he happened to be available and friendly enough and said he could do it at quite the fraction of the endodontist cost. WEll.. I have not had any problems since so hopefully it looks like he did a good job.. it wasn't too painful either than I can remember it was a few year ago maybe 4-5. and he put a crown on after. there haven't been any issues. so I did save that tooth.

 

[saralou35]

Saralou,

I had one retreated by a regular dentist not an endodontist.. he happened to be available and friendly enough and said he could do it at quite the fraction of the endodontist cost. WEll.. I have not had any problems since so hopefully it looks like he did a good job.. it wasn't too painful either than I can remember it was a few year ago maybe 4-5. and he put a crown on after. there haven't been any issues. so I did save that tooth.

Oh that does sound promising! I think mine (8years old) wasn’t right from the start but I just lived with it as it wasn’t painful day to day just niggly now & again! I always said to my mum ‘this tooth is gonna have to come out one day!’ But now it’s time I’m not letting it go without a fight! The fact that I can eat on it etc makes me think it can’t be cracked? It’s just this awful sensation up my face?

 

[saralou35]

So I saw the Endodontist today and he couldn’t see any infection on X-ray and he thinks the root fills look okay! The only thing he said was there was an area in the tooth that a lot of people have an MB2 Canal? and mine isn’t filled so maybe a canal was missed on original root canal! He really couldn’t advise me what to do as no one seems to be able to see what’s wrong with tooth? He said at this point if money wasn’t involved any dentist would do a reroot before extracting? I’ve decided to let him redo the root canal as I’ve neen in pain now for 6weeks and I don’t really want tooth pulled unnecessarily! He said as a first molar it’s a big tooth to loose too! Although he did reassure me as a diabetic I could have an implant but he also said that they don’t always last forever? I still don’t know if I’m doing the right think as it’s very expensive! (But cheaper than an implant!) and no guarantee it will work! I’m in a bit of a state tonight as I got very flustered in there and keep going over in my head am I doing the right thing! ? or should I get it pulled out? I just hate my teeth right now! My gum on lower wisdom tooth seems to have joined the party and got infected too ? my mouth is a mess

 

[MountainMama]

So I saw the Endodontist today and he couldn’t see any infection on X-ray and he thinks the root fills look okay! The only thing he said was there was an area in the tooth that a lot of people have an MB2 Canal? and mine isn’t filled so maybe a canal was missed on original root canal! He really couldn’t advise me what to do as no one seems to be able to see what’s wrong with tooth? He said at this point if money wasn’t involved any dentist would do a reroot before extracting? I’ve decided to let him redo the root canal as I’ve neen in pain now for 6weeks and I don’t really want tooth pulled unnecessarily! He said as a first molar it’s a big tooth to loose too! Although he did reassure me as a diabetic I could have an implant but he also said that they don’t always last forever? I still don’t know if I’m doing the right think as it’s very expensive! (But cheaper than an implant!) and no guarantee it will work! I’m in a bit of a state tonight as I got very flustered in there and keep going over in my head am I doing the right thing! ? or should I get it pulled out? I just hate my teeth right now! My gum on lower wisdom tooth seems to have joined the party and got infected too ? my mouth is a mess

I am sorry you didn't get a clear answer. I would probably opt for the retreat, if you can, just so you know you did everything you could to save the tooth.

It is really up to you, though. If you have the money for an implant and just want to be done with it all, you could go that route.

 

[saralou35]

I just don’t know how I’d deal with an extraction!? I think it would really affect me having a tooth that’s visible out! I think first molars you have to wait for it to heal to get implant put in too! So would be about 12 months toothless! He said it should be an easy retreat and he’s given me a 5-10yr success estimate of 75%. He pointed to the X-ray where the mb2 canal would be and there was a dark area that he said maybe a missed canal? This guy has done 13000 root canals so if he can’t figure it out I think I’m gonna give up trying to work it out! I’ve booked him for next week now but I guess I prob have till weekend or Monday to cancel if I change mind! (Me and the hubs currently arguing about the cost) The good news is he can do it through my crown then just fill it! So no extra cost of that or the hassle of having that done again! I don’t think I could face it! He said he’ll do it in 2 x 50min sittings two weeks apart so not too much chair time x

 

[MountainMama]

I just don’t know how I’d deal with an extraction!? I think it would really affect me having a tooth that’s visible out! I think first molars you have to wait for it to heal to get implant put in too! So would be about 12 months toothless! He said it should be an easy retreat and he’s given me a 5-10yr success estimate of 75%. He pointed to the X-ray where the mb2 canal would be and there was a dark area that he said maybe a missed canal? This guy has done 13000 root canals so if he can’t figure it out I think I’m gonna give up trying to work it out! I’ve booked him for next week now but I guess I prob have till weekend or Monday to cancel if I change mind! (Me and the hubs currently arguing about the cost) The good news is he can do it through my crown then just fill it! So no extra cost of that or the hassle of having that done again! I don’t think I could face it! He said he’ll do it in 2 x 50min sittings two weeks apart so not too much chair time x

It certainly sounds as if he is confident, which is great! That is a good success rate, too. Plus getting in next week!

 

[saralou35]

Yeah he had one slot left next week (he only works 1.5days) then he was away the week after so that’s why I booked it and didn’t think too long as it’s already ruined half my summer! ?

 

[MountainMama]

Yeah he had one slot left next week (he only works 1.5days) then he was away the week after so that’s why I booked it and didn’t think too long as it’s already ruined half my summer! ?

I completely understand. My summer has been ruined as well. I really hope you can keep the appointment and get everything fixed.

 

[saralou35]

So I’m getting the root canal redone this week! I have nearly cancelled it a few times because of cost and thought maybe I should just pull tooth! I think part of me is scared that I have a weird nerve pain or atypical neuralgia as that’s what comes up when I google my symptoms! I’m so scared that this re treatment isn’t going to work and I’ll still end up in pain! I just really hope it works!!! Or at least I get some definitive answers when he opens up the tooth ?

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Saralou,

Really hope you can get some peace, answers and some healing to that tooth! That would be amazing if this worked!! and gave you some relief!

 

[saralou35]

Just had my reroot canal with Endodontist! It was fine! No pain I didn’t even feel him inject my gum! The bad news is he couldn’t get to the end of a canal either (as previous dentist 8yrs ago couldn’t) he said he didn’t know if there was a file snapped in there? ?
he also did find the start of an mb2 canal but said it was only about 3mm long which is unusual!? Anyway trust me to have dodgy canals!!! He’s left antiseptic stuff in it for two weeks so I’ll see how it goes! I’m not hopeful though! He mentioned an apidectomy for that dodgy root but I don’t think I can keep throwing money at this tooth that’s not really showing as infected on X-ray! I’ve got a few weeks to decide anyhow!
Just thought I’d update in case anyone was following x

 

[MountainMama]

I am glad the procedure went well! I hope this solves the problem!

 

[saralou35]

Thanks mountainmama I’m just glad it’s over with! If it doesn’t work I’ll be gutted but I’m glad I tried as if I’d just pulled it I always would’ve wondered if I could save it! I’m just gonna rest up now as I feel a bit traumatised even though the procedure was great and he was very gentle! I nearly fell asleep it was quite relaxing in a way! I’ve got a few days off work now holidays so hoping the tooth ache/face sensations stay low enough for me to have a nice few days! Is your api tomorrow? Good luck for it x