• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

    Register now to access all the features of the forum.

root canal vs extraction argh panicking!

  • Thread starter Thread starter pumpkin
  • Start date Start date
P

pumpkin

Junior member
Joined
May 5, 2008
Messages
3
:-X Heya, this is my first post!
Right im totally scared to death at the mo!
heres the story: About a year ago a tooth (2nd from bk on right) that I had a filling in about 10 years ago, well, a little tiny bit broke off when i bit into a cerial bar that was a little harder than I expected! but it didnt hurt and i had no money and i was scared of what the dentist would say so i just left it (slap on the wrists i know)
A few months back it started to hurt, again i still had no money and couldnt get an NHS dentist so I had to get myself further in debt to see a private dentist...OMG THE most ammount of agony I have ever been through in my entire life...so far. Basically he said there was a lot of decay in that tooth under the filling, so he took the filling out, cleaned it up and put a white filling in (that i later found out was a temporary one!) He had injected me with 2 syringes of the stuff that makes yr face go numb and i still felt him doing what felt like hitting a nerve, especially as he tried to put in the filling stuff.
I was in pain and i tried to tell him but he said 'how can that be hurting, that shouldnt hurt' and just carried on with what he was doing as I writhed in pain as he didn't believe me. He also made me feel bad b4 he started by being all laddish and pointing out i had 'bits of grub stuck in it'.

So. After 2 weeks of taking antibiotics after that i had a few family issues that got in the way and jus thought it would heal but it didnt so a few months later i worked up the courage to email a dentist that said the treat nervous patients. I went to see him for a 'chat'.After calming me down enough to let him have a look, i almost had a panic attack in the chair as the memories came flooding back while he examined me and took x-rays.
He said i either need to have that tooth taken out OR have a root canal thing on it so that i dont have a big gap. I have been saving up and have now got enough money but I'm terrified to go back. Even to this new nicer dentist.
Which would be least painful in the long run? Root canal or extraction and filling in the gap to stop shifting teeth?
Is sedation worth the extra £200? How does it make u feel? Will it help me not go through that same experience again?
When i get panicky and cry etc my nose gets a lil blocked, how will i breathe?
He says i have a lot of other work that needs doing as well, how on earth am i going to be able to cope with all of it if i almost hyperventilate just being examined?
Why will no-one jus knock me out do everything and wake me back up again hehe is that even possible!?
This is ruining my life, i have a lot of other not nice things happening at the mo and i could cope with them all if it wasnt for my stupid mouth *:'(

I'm sorry this post is so long but i think this is the end of it now!!
I have to book my appointment soon so I'll keep my eye out for a response :-[
Thankyoo
Pumpkin
 
If the sedation your considering is i/v sedation then its like going to sleep and waking up with it all over.:cheers: It would be definately worth the extra money if it would help you get it done.

 
I have had the first part of a root canal done today, I too had the choice of extractioin or filling, I opted for the filling as I have lost enough teeth already !

My dentist doesn't do the sedation bit, so I used Kalm tablets for 4 days previous to appointment, also Argent Nit for 4 days, then this morning I took Aconite for sheer terror !!! I have to say that although I was apprehensive I certainly wasn't in the kind of state I would normally be in...............I really would opt to save the tooth if you can, once its gone, its gone .

Everyone here is so supportive and really can sympathise and care about the things you are going through and knows exactly whre you are coming from [smiley=hugging.gif]:grouphug:
 
couldnt get an NHS dentist so I had to get myself further in debt to see a private dentist...OMG THE most ammount of agony I have ever been through in my entire life...so far. ....
I was in pain and i tried to tell him but he said 'how can that be hurting, that shouldnt hurt' and just carried on with what he was doing as I writhed in pain as he didn't believe me. He also made me feel bad b4 he started by being all laddish and pointing out i had 'bits of grub stuck in it'.


Hi Pumpkin :welcome: I am so sorry to hear of your recent bad experience with the private UK dentist:devilish:. What he did, amounted to assault basically and when you are sorted, I would advise you to make a formal complaint by letter about how he treated you to the GDC...the charge would be 'failure to provide adequate anaesthesia' and consent failures...if you had actually in so many words asked him to stop treating you because of the pain you were in and he had persisted, it would definitely be 'assault'. He should not be allowed to treat patients like this and get away with it...send a warning shot across his bows and save someone else from a similar experience. He'll only get his knuckles rapped at worst for a first offence.


After 2 weeks of taking antibiotics after that i had a few family issues that got in the way and jus thought it would heal but it didnt so a few months later i worked up the courage to email a dentist that said the treat nervous patients. I went to see him for a 'chat'.After calming me down enough to let him have a look, i almost had a panic attack in the chair as the memories came flooding back while he examined me and took x-rays.
Congratulations on getting back in the saddle so quickly. From the sounds of it, your new dentist will be completely the opposite and you have nothing to fear...I would personally try without sedation on the understanding that you want to be painfree and in control (stop signal) during any procedure.
So long as you reserve the right to withdraw your consent should things be too uncomfortable...going without sedation is the best guarantee of no repeat as you are 100% in control but because of the trauma of what happened if this doesn't work out or you can't go through with it because it triggers off memories of your bad experience and induces panic attacks ...then yes sedation would do the trick and a lot can be done in one go.

He says i have a lot of other work that needs doing as well,
You need to discuss exactly what this extra work is, especially if you will be sedated...you should get a written treatment plan...some stuff might be more urgent than other bits...some might be just cosmetic.

NEVER stay with a dentist who does not treat you with respect...another charge the first dentist could have laid at his door.....you can withdraw consent at any stage during any procedure BUT to think it's worth doing this, you have to know that the pain being inflicted is not the norm. It could have been pure anxiety causing your problem in getting numb or infection or his failure to give enough LA or to inject in the right place...this page has more details about numbing difficulties:


Well done :jump:definitely go for keeping the tooth - I would say try to build up trust with this new dentist such that you don't need the sedation but if absolutely necessary then go for sedation and get it over and done with and then visit 'the nice dentist' every 6 months and the fear will gradually lessen. :grouphug:

As you found out - the right dentist for you is very important but the vast majority are nowhere near as awful as the one you encountered. If he treats his private patients like that, I certainly pity his NHS ones :ROFLMAO:
 
I recommend Valium to you. You'll be in control and aware of what's happening, but you won't cry, panic or hyperventilate. You'll be able to sit in the chair and have your root canal without problems, only slightly nervous if at all. Just like any "normal" patient. It won't cost more than about 10€ to get the tablets from a pharmacy. Good luck!
 
Thank you all for your kind replies
So, I can and should expect to go 4 this root canal and not have to experience a great amount of pain? I am amazed! I thought that I'd have 2 go on a day where i also had the next day off to recover from the pain, so this doesn't have to be the case then?
Last time I thought the pain i went through was just how it was...After i got out of the dentist and went home I spent the next 6 or 7 hours crying and physically shaking in agony, i really did wish i could just pass out it was that bad.my poor partner was upset coz he hates seeing me in pain and felt like there was nothing much he could do to help,i'd already taken painkillers and they barely touched it. I had to call in sick at work the next day cozi was still in pain though i was no longer shaking and I couldn't really open my mouth too far for a few days i couldn't talk very well let alone eat. I had antibiotics for 2 weeks that made my jaw better but not the tooth.
I thought that because all i'd had was a cleaned outtooth and filling and it hurt that much that a root canal being so much more, would be equal to the pain if not more and that was my main concern, not wanting to have to go through that amount of pain again, so am i right in saying that i shouldn't have to feel that amount of pain again with a better dentist?
I found this morning that I have been invited on a cruise for two weeks from 1st august i was excited but then worried about the tooth thing, do ya reckon thats enough time between now and then to get myself better enough to go?
thanks again for your help and hope to hear good news!!!
pumpkin:grouphug:
 
There may be some afterpain between appointments with a root canal, say once the LA has worn off but it would normally be amenable to standard painkillers. Maybe the infection was the cause of your problem in getting numb and if so, a halt should have been called and a different antibiotic taken to clear the infection before proceeding or sedation of some kind could have been used. Interestingly he said to you.'.this shouldn't be hurting' and carried on as if he didn't care and was unaware that there can be problems with numbing in certain situations. These are exactly the kind of dentists who create phobics and you do begin to wonder if we will ever be rid of them.

It is reasonable to expect a dentist to keep things comfortable for you during actual treatment appointments...you can even be numbed up just for cleanings if that is what you prefer, although personally I find a gentle hygienist means its comfy anyway so no need.

I would suggest you discuss with your new dentist how he can make things comfortable for you....it makes such a difference anyway if the person cares and gives you control (stop signal or I want a break signal) and doesn't just carry on regardless of your feelings as the last one did.

Remember if the new dentist doesn't work out either..there are still endodontists you can go to who specialise in root canals....they often offer nitrous oxide which is a form of conscious sedation and given that they deal with root canals all the time, are more likely to be well-versed in advanced anaesthesia techniques for getting 'hot infected' teeth numb.

I'd say there is plenty of time to get sorted before your cruise.
Best wishes :grouphug:
 
I've said this in many other replies,but....root canals have gotten an undeserved bad rap. I've had around 15 done (I've literally lost count) and none of them were painful. Usually, I needed them as a result of an absess, and the immediate relief you feel from the root canal, after having the pain of an absess, is a wonderful thing.

Try to relax if you can. Of all the procedures I've had done (and I've had just about everything under the sun done), root canals are one of the easiest. I recently had a wisdom tooth removed, and the aftercare involved with that extraction was no fun. I had to eat on the opposite side for a week, eat soft foods, be careful not to get food into the extraction site...etc. With a root canal, once you're done, you're done... and most appointments only take around an hour.

Keep your real teeth as long as you possibly can. I asked my endodontist what he thought about implants and he said "they're great!!! but real teeth are better!" :)

Good luck.
 
One other thought. The majority of my root canals were done by endodontists and I highly recommend going to one if you can. They have all the modern equipment, and they do root canals all day long. Some teeth have crooked roots or other unforeseen issues. Endodontists can handle those 'problems' with ease.

I'm not saying dentists can't do root canals, but I'll take the guy who does hundred's a year over the guy who does 5 anyday. It's simply logic...but just my opinion of course.
 
Thank you all for your kind replies
So, I can and should expect to go 4 this root canal and not have to experience a great amount of pain? I am amazed! I thought that I'd have 2 go on a day where i also had the next day off to recover from the pain, so this doesn't have to be the case then?
I found this morning that I have been invited on a cruise for two weeks from 1st august i was excited but then worried about the tooth thing, do ya reckon thats enough time between now and then to get myself better enough to go?
:

HI Pumpkin

I had a root canel done 10 years ago under sedation, and I didnt feel a thing, the next day was fine , injection ahd worn off and I could eat as normal .

I would guess that any tooth that can be saved you should try to, rather than remove it
And If you find a good dentist then stick with him, thats the most important thing that you feel safe with your dentist and trust so that he will stop if you need to.

And I am sure you will be fine in plenty of time for your holiday :)

Good Luck
 
Pumpkin has now recommended her second dentist on the Dentistfinder....the two experiences being 'chalk' and 'cheese' by all accounts without sedation being required:
.
Congratulations to Pumpkin :grouphug:
 
Back
Top