Root Canal Treatment

[CW1]

Hi,

Went for a dental checkup in August, to a dentist I'd never seen before (my "usual" left the practice), was told I needed a filling. I already knew that but wasn't causing any problems at all so didn't book up another appointment at the time. Was a long story & won't go into it here but it was an awful experience. 

Couple of weeks later I was suddenly in awful pain. Was 3 days before another dentist could see me (was NOT going back to the 1st !) so out came the Paracetomol, but I was then told I needed a root canal filling, in the same tooth. 1st appointment they had was end of November (2 months !) despite being in terrible pain. Was eventually given antibiotics & told to take if the pain became intolerable. I've never taken them but now - the pain's suddenly gone !

I'm thinking about going to another practice altogether, for a 2nd opinion, but if I'm in no pain, how would they know if I did need a root canal filling ? Would a filling in the tooth be enough to prevent infection ?

I haven't needed major treatment for decades, don't usually even have an anaesthetic for fillings, preferring a bit of discomfort to the hours of "numb", but the thought of being stuck in a chair for an hour petrifies me now.

[barry1010]

I thought I needed a root canal filling some years ago when I was in so much pain I couldn't eat drink or sleep. It was trigeminal neuralgia, which can come on suddenly and disappear just as suddenly.

An x-ray will show that you need a root canal filling. I've had them and they are not as bad as you think.  These days the numbness doesn't last long, and you will need numbing

[CW1]

The odd thing is tho' eating, drinking - hot or cold - never gave me pain, neither did the cold air the dentist used, or even them tapping the tooth. It did disturb my sleep but I've a shoulder that's "freezing" too so that wouldn't have helped.

 

It's not just the numbing that bothers me, it's the thought of being flat on my back, mouth wide open. For an hour ! Then the inevitable reaction pain after when I haven't any now 😣

 

Just wonder what would happen if I just ... leave it. Umm ... 

[bednobs]

ifyouleave it, it'll at some point start hurting again

[Canary42]

Barry is right - only an X-ray will determine the need for root canal.

Although horror stories do abound, I've had a couple of root canal jobs and IME although uncomfortable (can take some time), not painful.

I wouldn't like to try it without numbing though.  i would however recommend getting it done otherwise you're looking at possible more pain some time in the future and probable extraction.

[Old_Geezer]

Concur with the above posts.

 

An X-ray can fail to show a problem, but when it does show something there's every reason to check what it's found.

 

Root canal treatment sounds worse than it is.  These days the anesthetic stops pain and you just sit there as the dentists sorts it out. Just tell them if you think you need a bit more due to discomfort.