Seemingly difficult root canal...

[facingthefears]

Hi

Nervous patient here, got a little list of dentist visits that need to be completed, root canal on lower molar, root canal on upper molar, 3/4 fillings and an extraction

I've started the root canal on the lower molar, which from the research I did, I knew it might be difficult as I've seen they are harder to numb and 'hot teeth', I knew I should have gotten a root canal for around a year now so the infection in the tooth was probably quite severe. However I'd had no pain in it! until I chipped off part of my tooth and my dentist decided it needed to be started.

I've had around three sessions on it now (I'm with a private dentist in the UK, general dentist but has done a lot of root canals, although not an endodonist - if that's how you spell it)

The first session went great, completely numb, felt nothing, she opened the tooth checked the amount of canals and started working on a couple of them, we had a 30m slot for this one as she wanted to ease me in, she put some medicine in it and closed it up.

Went to my second session, was numb, reopened the tooth and started doing a bit more on the canals got 3/4 through one, 1/2 of another and left one alone, as when she tried to do that canal I could feel pain building up as she went further down the canal, she noted that canal looked like it had quite infected nerve tissue inside it hence the pain, so she put harsher medicine down and closed it up hoping it would die off.

Third session today! one canal completed cleaned out, the other canal is 3/4 through but starting to get sore at the bottom, and the other is still not viable to get into.

Is this normal? Will I have to go through a bit of pain to finish off the remaining nerves, or is it possible for the infection to die down enough to finish off those canals? (Baring in mind I have 0 pain in the tooth) I struggled to get completely numb today, my face and teeth felt numb but I almost felt an underlying pain in that tooth and it felt a little sensitive to cold (again when I'm not numb I've had 0 pain in the tooth) drilling was fine, to get through the tooth but again that canal gets more painful the further she goes into it, at the moment I'm stopping her at the first sign of any pain (no matter how small) and she is stopping for me.

any ideas, or suggestions how I can hurry things along?

Thanks,
Lisa

 

[Gordon]

Has the dentist put in any supplemental local? Usually in these cases it's not actually infection that's the problem, it's a little bit of live nerve at the bottom of the canal which is hypersensitive. Normally the only way round it is to inject some local right into the canal. It might hurt for a fraction of a second but shouldn't be too bad.

 

[facingthefears]

Hi Gordon!

She did try and do this the first time, although I think she just popped the local down the canal, she didn't touch the nerve, as I felt nothing when she did it, no pain.

I have another appointment for it today, shall I ask her to do that? when you say it might hurt, would it be bad? I keep thinking about letting her go through the nerve (as I stop her as soon as I feel any sort of pain no matter how slight) as I'm nervous she will cause me a pain I won't want to come from

Thanks,
Lisa

 

[Gordon]

Wait and see, it's been long enough that the last bit of nerve may have died off by itself. Hopefully!

 

[facingthefears]

Hi @Gordon just came out of my appointment! It had indeed, all three canals cleaned out today! 👏🏼 where’s the best place to post about good RCT experiences?

 

[Gordon]

I suppose "Share Your Success" forum or thereabouts. Anyway, I'm glad to hear things went well, thanks for letting me know.

 

[Natzuk]

@facingthefears hello.
I’m glad I came across this as I’m in the UK and the dentist thinks one of my old fillings which is leaking may need a root canal 😢. My appointment is march 23rd am so scared.
I’m autistic, my anxiety is so bad plus I had a filling a few weeks ago , he used anaesthetic without adrenaline ( with gives me palpitations) yet I still felt terrible after it ! So tired , confused, felt out of it .

This has put me off getting this tooth sorted because of how I felt after it 😭. I cried before it I couldn’t stop and my heart was racing so fast .
It’s bothering me now , not painful but red or anything but it’s just sensitive.

I have asked them too refer me too a community dental hospital as they deal with vulnerable patients.
Am scared this tooth may get infected now but am hoping it won’t .
Just using salted water for now mouthwash floss etc .

 

[facingthefears]

Hi @Natzuk

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it, I'm on a waiting list for an ADHD/Autism assessment myself, I really don't enjoy the feeling of the instruments, drilling etc, or scraping on my teeth it makes me very uncomfortable!

What I will say is it probably depends on your dentist. You may have some sort of issue with anaesthetic but I believe there are lots of different types, you may need to find one that works for you personally. I also suffer with anxiety and the shots definitely give the feeling of panic, but I find if the dentist gives you 5/10 to calm down that usually subsides enough for me to move forward.

I had my root canal done very slowly over the course of 4 visits, I think I still have a few visits left to finish it off, the canal's need filling in, she has put medication in them to kill off any leftover infection, so they need filling, then it will need shaping and a mold taken for crown and a crown fitting so i'm not fully finished. I will say that I pay privately however, and in my personal opinion I find taking the time and going slowly is a big thing for me, which I get to do via private i'm unsure whether NHS would want to pull out a root canal for so long.

However in terms of an actual root canal its just an extended filling to be honest, takes a little longer, they drill into the tooth, find the canals, clean them out with other drills and fill you back up! It's definitely no where near as scary as I thought

Hope some of that helps, feel free to message me anytime

Lisa

 

[Natzuk]

@facingthefears thanks so much .

Yeah I can’t afford private but the dentist who sees me I think he will be okay and said he will book me in for 20 minutes/30 slots to see if I need one .
I can’t even bring the appointment forward as he has no availability so have too wait till the 23rd .
Just worried this flare up is an infection but I have no symptoms just a nagging pain !

Truthfully the way they treat me when I go for an emergency check up as this happens a lot there attitude upsets me as I know my teeth aren’t great !
It’s just the way they say things too me .
I’m trying my best but it’s like I’m wasting my time