Has anyone had a root canal done?

[Anonymous]

please share your experience. I'm in constant pain since it's near a nerve but I have no money right now to do it so I might have to wait 2-3 weeks before doing it while on pain killers. Has anyone had it done? how was it? obvioiusly I'm not waiting 6 months for it, I know it has to be done. thoughts?

[Brando]

It's actually not too bad. I never had one until last year because they found that I had an infected gum so I needed to have that nerve scraped out lol.

First they numb that area up (which eventually spreads to your whole mouth and lips). They go in with a drill or something and open holes in the top of the tooth. Next they get these little files to get inside your tooth and scrape out the nerves. For most of the time, I just laid there and looked at the clouds on the ceiling because it's more inconvenience than pain. The only part that was icky was when they were filling my tooth in. They press this tool down onto your tooth to shove that filling inside of it, and that part made me feel kind of tender and I had her stop every few minutes.

But overall, it's really not a bad experience at all.

[KERMlT]

It depends on the extent of the damage. If there is an abscess then it can be quite painful. It usually starts with feeling fatigued then a headache that doesn't go away. Sometimes with tooth pain but not always. A 'pimple' will form on the gum line that is the pressure relief.

If they go down deep to clean out a tooth from the inside, it is possible that the filling will be close to the nerve. Anything hot or cold will give a jolt and it generally doesn't go away. If they kill the nerve it is possible that the tooth will 'die' and get discolored. It might look gray or blue in color.

I went 45 days with an abscess once waiting on health benefits to kick in. It's not worth the risk because it can cause other problems in your body to the extent of death.

[lelebear]

It is not a bad experience as long as the tooth is not too infected. If you have to wait I suggest you get antibiotics from your dentist or doctor to get the infection under control. If it is badly infected they will not be able to get you numb. As long as they can get you numb it is not bad at all. If you have had a filling done it is kind of like that but it takes a little longer. They will also stop occasionally and take an x-ray to see where they are in the nerve canal. Also be sure you don't put heat on your face to help with the pain or any swelling you might have this will only make it much worse.

[Anonymous]

The actual root canal doesn't hurt that much. The worst part of the process for me was while they were numbing me. During the process all I really felt was some pressure. After the fact, it does hurt a bit once the numbness wears off. I've had the root canal/cap for quite a while, and it never gives me problems now.

[Foxchild82]

I had them all pulled out at once because I waited until the last minute too due to everyone wigging me out on how much it willhurt. But they put you to sleep before they pull them out and give you pain pills after the procedure. Honestly it hurt more before they pulled them...

[martyfellow]

It/'s very dangeerus tgo wait that long, an infection could kill you especially if it's an upper joaw location. Maye on the lower jaw it's not so dangerous, but that's still too long.

Isn't our health care system wonderful? It's bound to be a lot more complicated to deal with after 2 or 3 weeks and a lot more expensive than if it could be done right away.

[farbyondriven]

Yes I have. It happened about 4 or 5 years ago. They put a lot of numbing medicine on that tooth and they gave me a numbing shot as well. Which did help a lot. I still could feel it but not as bad. After it was all done and over I don't have pain with that tooth anymore. Good Luck ! :-)