I’m happy to announce that my root canal has been completed
I went back to the endodontist yesterday for session number two, which I must admit was a better experience than session number one had been.
It lasted a shorter time; maybe an hour. It didn’t hurt, although it was uncomfortable. That huge rubber boot in the mouth isn’t fun, nor is the constant scrape, pressure, drill, whatever – all without a word from the dentist except laconic and mysterious instructions to the assistant such as, “Number 30, please!”
I was concerned this time because the dentist had said, after the first session, that it had been impossible to find the fourth root. The tooth involved was a large molar which supposedly should have four roots. This time, the conclusion was that it has no fourth root and so the quest was abandoned.
I hope that was correct. I hope this is – as they say in the real estate business – my “forever” restoration. Wouldn’t want to have to upgrade to an implant. As it was, I practically had to take out a mortgage to finance the root canal. And it doesn’t even have a view.
Someone out there has a molar with five roots ….
IMHO, and having gone through a lengthy root canal procedure only to have it fail*, and then getting an implant, if there is a next time I will choose to go directly to the implant. Much less discomfort getting the implant. It too was a lengthy process (about one year because it required a jaw bone graft) but it has been trouble free for many years. This was for a lateral incisor.
For a molar, I would choose to go with a bridge if that was an option.
YMMV.
*this was a second root canal procedure on a tooth where I previously had a root canal 15 years earlier. I didn’t know that root canals have a limited life span.
Steph:
Implants are many times more expensive.
I have several congenitally missing teeth, and have 2 dental implants. I’ve had trouble with them; dental implants are not guaranteed to be trouble-free. Had something called peri-implantitis there a few years ago, which is actually rather common. In my case, it was supposedly because of a narrow space for the implant, but it can happen to anyone. It requires a dental surgery to fix, and there is no guarantee the fix will work.
om:
🙂
Neo – in *my* case, the abscess reappeared within two weeks of the root canal procedures. So for me, the root canal procedures were not only extremely uncomfortable but also a needless expense*.
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had problems with your implants.
*My dentist was able to get some of my money refunded from the endodontist.
“happy” and “my root canal” is not the most common conjunction of words… knock on wood I’ve been so far spared from personal experience with it.
So glad for you Neo. On 11/22 my husband is scheduled for his implant, after 1 year of waiting for the “bone to grow”. This is all due to a childhood injury to his tooth that we addressed 31 years ago. And yes–it is very expensive!
I know someone, almost 30 years of age, that still has a baby tooth and it has no roots at all. The tooth is basically dead, but it’s still hanging in there.
Easy to have it removed but to prevent the adjacent teeth moving towards the void a bridge or an implant would be required.
For now, the dead, rootless tooth will stay put.
Congratulations, neo, you done survived it! Now, on to the rest of your life . . .
I’m nearly 70, and still have 2 of my baby teeth, and lost 2 more after I turned 60. I have 2 empty spaces for the 2 that finally fell out, and other than occasional discomfort when I chew something with sharp edges in just the right spot, I never notice them gone.
Mine was completed in about an hour, dentist showed me the nerve, it looked like dental floss. Got a few Loritab pills, a synthetic opioid. Took two, which made me feel ill. Went to Tylenol.
I’ve read the first couple of times you use any opioid, you feel sick. Maybe that’s natures way of warning you not to use.
rbj1:
I had little to no pain, fortunately. The pain had all been previously, as the tooth was dying. Even that was only bad for about a week.
I have a baby tooth.
My mother had a baby tooth (same spot, by the way) that she had till the day she died at 98.
Steph:
That sounds upsetting.
Fortunately, I didn’t have an abscess in the first place. Just a dying and then dead tooth. The death happened in a period of just a couple of weeks.
It’s done! HUZZAH!
I had a tooth capped Monday, took an hour. The reason for the cap was that the tooth was one of the two for which I’ve had root canals, and also had a large filling. It was a canine, and the dentist said that if it broke, it would be a real pain to replace, so better safe than sorry. I kept your experience in mind during the procedure. Thanks for that 🙂
I have dental insurance. Not sure how one who is not a federal government retiree gets it but mine costs about $100 a month. Alas, my new dentist wanted to replace every crown, drill teeth as I apparently ground cracks into them and did another implant. I think the work, not counting the surgeon who removed the tooth and who put in the post, cost me about $6000… funny, that is more painful to me than the actual visits.
Anyway, hope you get relief.
I’m glad to hear that your root canal is over! Long may it last!
Root canal are hard to forget!