Root Canal!(Share your experiecnce)?!
Question: I am 20 and recently found out i needed a root canal. My tooth hurts a little when i drink or when i apply pressure from the top. It has like a greenish line in the inner part and a small yellowish color in the center. How bad is it!? I keep reading about root canals, but i hear a lot of bad stories. Like the tooth still hurting, or becoming infected, or cracking! If this is suppose to be some kind of groundbreaking tooth operation, then why do so many people have these problems. I don't want to lose my tooth though! Can someone explain their experience with root canals? I really need to know how much it costs(unfortunately i don't have insurance) , the degree of pain you were in and if it worked and is still working. This information will be very helpful.
Answers: I am 20 and recently found out i needed a root canal. My tooth hurts a little when i drink or when i apply pressure from the top. It has like a greenish line in the inner part and a small yellowish color in the center. How bad is it!? I keep reading about root canals, but i hear a lot of bad stories. Like the tooth still hurting, or becoming infected, or cracking! If this is suppose to be some kind of groundbreaking tooth operation, then why do so many people have these problems. I don't want to lose my tooth though! Can someone explain their experience with root canals? I really need to know how much it costs(unfortunately i don't have insurance) , the degree of pain you were in and if it worked and is still working. This information will be very helpful.
I recently got a root canal and had none of those problems. I was in a lot of pain and it was the weekend of course so I couldn't get to a dentist til monday so by the time I actually got the root canal I was just relieved to be having it done. A lot of people think they hurt because of the pain you have before but the actual root canal did not hurt at all. It took about an hour and they basically take everything out of the inside of your tooth including the nerve leaving your tooth basically as a huge hole. They fill it with temporary filling and you have to go to your dentist and get it filled with permanent filling and get a crown within six weeks of the root canal. I also don't have dental insurance and went to an endodontist (who specialize in root canals) and it cost about $850. If you get it done at a dentist it might be a little cheaper but generally you should expect to pay atleast $500. I was in a little bit of pain afterwards, but nowhere near as much as before. It only took a day or two to get better though. Good luck!
i had a root canal when i was 19 I'm 21 now and i haven't had any problems... as long as you take care of your teeth and you have a good and experienced dentist everything will be fine. I was told at the time by my dentist that i NEEDED that root canal.
There really is no need to stress out i think. i don't even think about my tooth. you just remind me that i had a crown. lol. :) cheers.
I had a root canal when I was 12, not from a cavity but from an infection after knocking my tooth out. I was so scared but it wasn't bad AT ALL. I had laughing gas which I'm sure helped, and I honestly didn't feel any pain, I just closed my eyes and listened to music the whole time. No pain afterwards either. I'm 21 now and I haven't had any problems with it.
Editing to add- you will NOT experience 10 seconds of excrutiating pain like someone said, that's not true at all. I can't imagine why that would happen unless your dentist was doing something wrong. Even the novacaine shot doesn't hurt much (just a pinch) and the dentist won't start the procedure until it's kicked in.
Root canals are a tricky procedure. My dentist couldn't guarantee the longevity of my tooth after doing it. It is painful at first until the Novocaine kicks in.
Be sure to ask your dentist if he is licensed in navigation before doing the root canal. lol
The good news:
It really works. Really, Really, really. I can't believe how much better I feel. Oh my gosh. It's almost exactly one year from when I had it done, now.
The bad news:
It is likely that you will have at least 10 seconds of EXCRUCIATING PAIN during the procedure, unless you're strongly sedated. How long, and how excruciating depends on how "hot" the nerve is. The longer you wait, the worse the nerve gets.
It is quite expensive. My quotes were from $400 to $950
I had insurance, and it cost me $200.
Depending on the amount of decay, your tooth may crack. Mine did, less than 3 weeks after my RC. We were already expecting to need a crown, but this made it have to be rushed.
My crown, which is a fairly top-of-the-line one, and a full one to boot, cost me about $400, but without insurance it would've come to nearly $1200.
I waited WAY too long to do this. I would've saved a LOT of $ if I'd acted sooner.
Edit: Novocaine doesn't stop the nerve from causing pain when it dies....depolarizing the nerve depolarizes the nerve, for crying outloud. roffle. whatever. Yes, you'll have no pain if the nerve is already dead....
Read this:
http://www.doctorspiller.com/Root_Canals...
I've had to have my root canal in four steps. 1) Cleaning out part of the root (there were two nerves in the tooth) and putting in a temporary filling. 2) Going back to have the entire tooth cleaned out then another temporary filling. 3) I'll be going back to get some sort of bridge I believe, between this tooth and the tooth next to it. (I guess to keep it stable) then the root canaled tooth grinded down slightly to make way for the crown. 4) A short visit to have the crown fitted then I'm done!
I had laughing gas as well as novacaine so it wasn't all that bad. I think the only pain I experienced throughout the entire procedure was the shot going into the gum but even that was minimal as they had put numbing gel on the gum beforehand. You will feel pressure but that's it. No pain!
I'm not sure what I can tell about prices as my parents are taking care of that.
Please don't worry yourself more by reading all of these 'horror stories'. Lots of people who never had a root canal in their life think it's going to be horrible and let me tell you...it's not! Living with a rotting tooth is worse.