Who has gotten one done before? How did it go?

I have to get one starting next week. The dentist is telling me it's going to take 3-4 visits to complete

1/16/2009 11:11:58 PM

I have had one and it took LOTS of visits because my dentist wouldn't prop my mouth open for very long because of my awful TMJ issues. I got Ativan to take before each visit because the dentist wigs me out and i get nervous and grab at his hands and swat at them. (I know, I'm crazy) They gave me super pain killers and muscle relaxers afterwards and I felt pretty damn good.

1/16/2009 11:22:57 PM

I know he's giving me laughing gas (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what we were talking about. The consultation was in Japanese ) and I hope to god I'll get some pain killers too.

How long after it was finally finished did it take for your mouth to feel normal again?

1/16/2009 11:26:50 PM

^^jesus you are nutz.

^ your mouth may never be normal in rare cases.

1/16/2009 11:31:09 PM

well, the one they worked on was the tooth right behind the canine, and it was pretty fucked up (i had a cavity that had been filled, and one night while my jaw was spazzing out I broke it in half, went to the dentist to find that the cavity had not been drilled out completely, so my tooth was now dying) they put a porcelain crown on it that was basically an entire tooth over a little piece of my tooth, so it felt pretty funny, it was about a year ago that they did it and my tongue still finds that tooth to mess with when i'm bored. it took a few weeks for me to stop messing with it constantly.


^despite how much i love water and swimming, i have this subconscious thing about drowning or smothering. i smacked the guy putting the mask on me when they were putting me under for surgery and i woke up early (still intubated) screaming that I was drowning and I couldn't breathe. when the dentist sticks his hands, the sucky thing, and a tool in my mouth i start to freak out a little, and then if the assistant gets in on it i start really getting anxious

[Edited on January 16, 2009 at 11:38 PM. Reason : ...]

1/16/2009 11:35:16 PM

root canals are simple

they don't hurt so long as they give you enough novocaine before the procedure

basically, they're taking the nerve out of your tooth so it shouldn't hurt after they're done with the root canal

and then generally you have to keep going back to get a temporary crown and then a real crown put on the tooth that you had the root canal on...and since your nerve is gone, you don't feel all that much so it doesn't hurt

you won't and shouldn't need pain killers at all after the procedure

if anything, your wallet is going to hurt more than your mouth

1/16/2009 11:38:04 PM

This should be prefaced that wolfpackgrrr's root canal is going to occur in Japan and dentist appointments are only allowed to be like 45 minutes for whatever reason in Japan. That's why it's 3-4 visits.

1/16/2009 11:38:58 PM

my pain killers were for my jaw, not the tooth. i don't remember the tooth hurting much. the gum line hurt a bit though.

1/16/2009 11:39:30 PM

mine took one visit and I'm getting the crown done now

They didn't put me under, just four shots of novicaine and that was the most painful part. I didn't get any painkillers, and felt fine.


Although the jaw was sore for a day because they propped it open for so long.....


The wallet being sore thing is true too (on the root canal and the crown)

[Edited on January 16, 2009 at 11:46 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2009 11:42:59 PM

I had root canals on my front four bottom teeth after taking an elbow in the face playing basketball when I was 14 (braces kept me from losing them). It was pretty painless for me, but all the nerves had been killed already so no biggy really. That was 15 years ago and they're doing just fine.

1/17/2009 12:01:06 AM

I was a total puss and got the oral sedative when I went in for mine. Gf and the dental assistants said I acted crazy under the influence.


I heard their commands and such, but didnt feel a thing and was pretty out of it the rest of the day. I had some other work done to make the oral sedative worth it. It took about a week and a half to get my crown and getting that put on was a snap

1/17/2009 1:18:00 AM

^^WTF?! I had the exact same injury happen to me except I was playing hockey.

I had braces. Took a stick in the mouth. Only was able to keep my bottom 4 front teeth because of the braces, otherwise they would have been knocked clear down my throat. Now that I think of it, it was probably about 15 years ago for me too.

Really, it was a bit uncomfortable with them digging out the roots and all but no severe pain.

[Edited on January 17, 2009 at 8:47 PM. Reason : ..]

1/17/2009 8:46:45 PM

^ haha, I had a similar injury...except it was my brother's fist to my face. We were arguing about what to watch on tv (I wanted to watch the UNC vs. Duke game). Only thing was I didn't have braces at the time. One of my bottom teeth got knocked completely out and two of the others got pushed backwards. I actually still have the one that got knocked out ( had to get a root canal), but I lost one of the ones that got pushed back a year later to an abcess.

Oh, and in regards to how much root canals suck...mine wasn't bad at all. I think the worst part would be if you had to get a root canal way in the back of your mouth and they have to jam the tools back there.

1/17/2009 10:16:19 PM

Root Canals are typically painless except for the shots of novicane. I have had 2 in past couple year both on molars, Try to ask the Endodonist for a bite rest it helps a lot. Mine took about 45 minutes to complete the root canal. Basically they take a big drill hollow out your tooth and then take this things that look like pipe cleaners and clean out the the nerves on the root. Then the several visits they have to build the tooth back up so they can put a crown on it. typically if its your back tooth they will put a metal crown in other wise its porcelain and will occasionally break.

Root Canals and crowns are expensive typically you are looking at $1500 for the root canal and crown so that gets you close to most dental plans ceilings.

Now if they have to do it over several visits you may need pain killers because you will have exposed nerves which will be painful.

1/18/2009 10:10:03 AM

Back in middle school I took a basketball to the face. Didn't realize until the next day that anything was wrong until a guy at school said "why is your tooth black?". So I went in, and the gave me a root canal. I still have my original tooth in, so I don't understand all this talk about people having several visits. They didn't put enough local antesthetic (sp?) so when they grabbed the nerve to take it out it shot an enormous pain throughout my body. Then after take 2 I didn't feel anything.

Now that tooth is starting to feel wierd again, so I hope it's nothing...

1/18/2009 11:09:13 AM

I had a root canal about two years ago, and it was the worst experience of my entire life. For whatever reason--apparently the pH inside my teeth was really abnormal--the local anaesthetic didn't work. The dentist seemed like he had hardly ever seen a case that like.

So, yeah. Root canal sans anaesthetic. Screaming for 2 hours. Fun times.

1/18/2009 11:16:47 AM

why didn't they give you laughing gas then^

1/18/2009 12:37:07 PM

holy shit, spookyjon. my blood hurt reading that.

my root canal went pretty great, actually. the guy doing it must have been pretty good because it hardly hurt at all. the worst part for me is keeping my mouth open the whole time.

1/18/2009 1:19:00 PM

I'm not a big dentist person -
Took the 'happy meds' before going....
Took my Ipod to cover up all the horrid noise
Fell asleep

Woke up and it was finished.

Mine was longer, and the biggest 'pain' was from propping my mouth open that wide for such a long time (it was my back upper molar) with 5 lil stems on the root.
Freak

1/18/2009 1:22:55 PM

I'm goin to get a root canal later this month...i'm really hoping i can add one of the "it was painless" experiences to the thread afterward. My supervisor at work spent 30 minutes telling me how traumatic it his was...made me crazy nervous. Glad to see they're not all so bad. Good call on the ipod too, i hate the way dental drills and shit sound.

2/17/2009 11:19:13 PM

LIDOcane. there are too many issues with novicane.

2/17/2009 11:31:12 PM

i got one freshman year. i had braces when i was younger because of 2 impacted canines, and i guess after one of them got pulled down into place by the braces it ended up getting traumatized or something and was pretty much dead. i didn't have any problems with the procedure. they just numbed the hell out of my face. i didn't even really feel any pain the next day either. and for some reason i didn't have to get a crown put on it, but the tooth is a little bit gray. the dentist said it wasn't worth worrying about unless i wanted to go in and get all my teeth whitened or something.

2/18/2009 11:52:29 AM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Root_Canal_Illustration_Molar.svg

Had to look up exactly what a root canal does -- that illustration pretty much explains it. It also makes me want to always brush my teeth, and avoid traumatic tooth injury.

[Edited on February 18, 2009 at 12:08 PM. Reason : ]

2/18/2009 12:04:18 PM

I literally just got one for the first time last week on Monday at Dr Bills office in Cary off Walnut Street. I was very nervous. granted, I came in already on some Vicodine ES, but I didnt feel a single thing during the entire procedure. It took about 1.5 hours.

The biggest pain was the bill. $1250 for a back molar. Insurance pays 80%, but in case they havent told you, its likely you'll need a CROWN after the root canal, which will set you back another $1000, and insurance generally only pays 50% of that.

good luck!

[Edited on February 18, 2009 at 1:11 PM. Reason : .]

2/18/2009 1:10:20 PM

Yeah, when they explained the payment and everything for the crown (after the dental visit, xrays, follow up visits to come, and root canal) i was monetarily devastated.

2/21/2009 11:44:53 AM

the guy that did mine is one of the best in the business - pm for info

2/21/2009 5:06:16 PM

Last year, I finally put a crown on the tooth which had a root canal treatment. The whole process takes about four years!

10/10/2018 11:58:16 AM

4 years? That's a long time to be sitting in a dentist chair!

10/10/2018 2:53:50 PM

Diagnosis->root canal treatment->crown lengthening->artificial crown installment->real crown installment
^ procedure, not process?

10/10/2018 3:08:37 PM