Root canal on Tuesday - prognosis good?

[Altari]

I finally summoned the courage to go in and have work done. It was supposed to be a large filling with a crown. He said it was too close to the nerve to have just a filling, though, and suggested we go ahead with the root canal. [Note: my old dentist had ordered a root canal, so the second-opinion apparently agreed.]

Since I have major anxiety issues, I'm freaking out about it. It was done on Tuesday, and for the first few days it really ached. No pain, just felt all the work he was in there doing. Now, I get these occasional sensations, which aren't painful but...weird. I don't even know how to describe them.

There was no infection in the tooth, and the decay hadn't fully extended into the nerve yet. I've been told that the success of the procedure is partially dependent upon the extent of the damage beforehand. Is this true? Should I expect a good outcome, rather than obsessing over the worst case scenario?

I'm also having the odd twinge around the gumline of the tooth, almost like a static shock. Is this normal?

[Further note: I was put on a 7-day 4-per-day course of penicillin]

 

[Gordon]

If the nerve was still alive then the prognosis was much better, which I think is what you meant? A bit of "jangling" in the tooth after a root treatment is pretty common. Seen the sticky thread up at the top?

 

[Altari]

Hi Gordon,

I'm not sure what you mean by the root was alive, but I'll guess it was.

He showed me the x-ray, and it showed decay far into the dentin. He had to "gut" my tooth, and there's almost none of it there now. However, he told me the decay had not extended past the dentin into the nerve. He offered a filing + crown, but when I felt a twinge during drilling, he said I'd end up with a root canal in short order anyway, so we may as well do it. He also said he saw the "beginnings" of an infection, but there was no infected matter in there. This is a distinction I didn't understand, but took his word for it. Kind of assumed it was like a cut that gets red, but not oozy.

I saw the thread at the top, but it didn't seem to answer my question.

My mom had a really WRETCHED root canal experience over a decade ago, and it has me paranoid. She is trying to reassure me that hers was far more progressed than mine (the tooth was dead, only half of it was left, and there was a raging infection), so she was destined to have a worse outcome.

 

[Altari]

Hi again!

I'm several weeks out of having the rebuild done. I'm getting the crown put on in February, and, until then, I have a temporary filling.

Today, while eating something I thought was soft, I found a hard bit. Bit down right on the filling. *sigh* It feels...funny?...now. It doesn't hurt, but there's more sensation in the area than there has been before. My dentist isn't usually in on Mondays, so I can't give him a call unless it's an emergency. So, is this something that I should wait and see if it goes away in the morning, or is it an "emergency" that I should call about either way? I'm worried about having all that done and ending up with complications!

 

[Gordon]

It's a bit late now, sorry. I'd have said not to worry about it.

 

[Mikey Boy]

now after the rootcanal do they put a cover over the tooth

 

[Altari]

now after the rootcanal do they put a cover over the tooth

I just had a filling put in until the crown. Some dentists put on a temporary crown. Mine didn't, and I almost wish he did, cause I'm afraid of this filling popping out. :/

Gordon,
Thanks. =) It was mostly gone the next day, so I ignored it. Every once in a while it feels a little off, but never painful. I'll just go with it unless I get some actual discomfort, I guess.