Anyone had Root Canal Troubles?

[wolf]

Have had many, like, 14-15, root canals. OP, your dentist screwed up. Maybe, he did not get all of the root out, or went in to far, hit a nerve in the jaw.

There should not be persistent pain after the procedure. My Endo. Two steps.
1. Clean out the root. 2. 2nd visit, fill in the "hole".

Some Endo's do it in one step. My Endo's, prefer two step. Said, easer, to exam
the "hole" after bleeding stops, and be sure everything looks good. (same price).

If your tooth is fine. Then your own dentist, will put a filling in.

If tooth, to damaged. Then your dentist, with do the "crown" work.

IMHO, I think when your dentist, saw the x-ray, it was obvious, he saw his screw up.
To bad you had to suffer so long.

Good luck. With the proper Endo. You should experience no pain. Been there so
so many times.....root canals, crowns, implants. Expensive, but never
experienced the pain you described.

 

[SunnyOne]

I've had dental problems most of my life and have spent a good amount of time in the dental chair. From your description, I know what I'd do: (sorry realized I wrote the following before noting you have another apppointment oh well lol)- I'd have that tooth pulled. Sounds like the infection may have reached too deeply into the bone for all that bacteria to be removed...that's a scary thought, with implications you can research (don't want to frighten anyone). I would then continue the antibiotics and wait for that area to heal. Eventually I would go in for a possible bone buildup and implant... - oh and ps/with that amount of infection, there would be a good possibility that anesthetics would not "take". That would have me insisting on the use of nitrous during the extraction. I would also rebuild my gut biome from the losses caused by antibiotics. This can also be researched for various strategies.

 

[Finance Dave]

Just saw this thread. I've had about 6-7 root canals. I will only allow and Endodontist to do mine. If they are "easy" ones, a dentist will have no issues....but I had an odd one...

Endo says "This one's going to be difficult". I asked why. He said it had three roots (not uncommon...it's a molar), and one is curved in such a way that he cannot get his drill into it all the way. He drilled it as far as he could with the drill, then took the bit and rotated it in his fingers to do the rest. I was in a lot of pain, so he started dripping the anesthetic directly on the nerve while he was working. I was sweating and clenching the arm of the chair while he finished up. I was not upset, he warned me it was going to be painful. I've now had him do 4 of mine, no issues.

Sounds like you are getting some traction on yours, hope it goes well from here out.

 

[Aerides]

I was in a lot of pain, so he started dripping the anesthetic directly on the nerve while he was working. I was sweating and clenching the arm of the chair while he finished up. I was not upset, he warned me it was going to be painful.

When I go to the dentist - for anything remotely involving a drill, I am very firm on being as numbed and/or sedated as much as legally permitted to avoid any pain. I'm a wuss, but the bill is the same, so the less I sweat the better.

 

[JoeWras]

My childhood dentist didn't use an anesthetic. Old skool. It was terrifying. Yet, he did good work. I still have some of those fillings.

My endo was a numbing wizard. I got about 5 shots. I remember the color coded syringes. I didn't feel the shots. The root canal was literally painless.

 

[Boho]

My childhood dentist was old skool too. No anesthetic for drilling, but it wasn't terrifying to me and I took the pain fine, with just an occasional flinch. I still have all of the fillings that weren't in teeth that were pulled. What terrifies me is stories of procedures that I read on this forum. A dentist or endodontist not being immediately available shouldn't be a thing.

I'm very suspicious of claims that the body can't adequately handle an oral infection with just the help good oral hygiene, including mouthwash (possible prescription), water flossing, and maybe some antibiotics in the beginning.

 

[JoeWras]

There should not be persistent pain after the procedure. My Endo. Two steps.
1. Clean out the root. 2. 2nd visit, fill in the "hole".

Some Endo's do it in one step. My Endo's, prefer two step. Said, easer, to exam
the "hole" after bleeding stops, and be sure everything looks good. (same price).

This may also depend on the complications. If you have an infection, it pretty much should be 2 steps. My endo did my root canal in one step because it was uncomplicated. I simply had severe cold sensitivity pain, no infection. BTW, he was also very pedantic in determining the source of the pain, spending quite a bit of time isolating it to assure he had the correct tooth. So it ended up being two visits. 1) Evaluate and determine source of problem, 2) The actual procedure from start to finish. Months later my dentist followed up with a crown on the tooth (which is typical).

 

[SunnyOne]

I'm very suspicious of claims that the body can't adequately handle an oral infection with just the help good oral hygiene, including mouthwash (possible prescription), water flossing, and maybe some antibiotics in the beginning.

Sure, for the part of the tooth you can see. My understanding is that the worst infections occur at the base of the roots, near or in bone....how would we get at those with tools offered over the counter?

Also, there are cases where the presence of an infection renders local anesthesia useless. In those cases, time for Plan B or C or....?

 

[Aerides]

My childhood dentist didn't use an anesthetic. Old skool. It was terrifying.

My childhood dentist was old skool too. No anesthetic for drilling, but it wasn't terrifying to me and I took the pain fine, with just an occasional flinch.

Me too, which is why, as an adult, I have had enough with that BS. So I make my needs clear. Numb me good, and numb me some more. Nope, I can still feel something, numb me again...ok now you can start.

 

[MRG]

Me too, which is why, as an adult, I have had enough with that BS. So I make my needs clear. Numb me good, and numb me some more. Nope, I can still feel something, numb me again...ok now you can start.

The endo I used started with two double doses of juice and had plenty more ready. Seems to he gave me a couple more as he was starting, said he liked his patients to not feel the procedure.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Ya'll are scaring the crap outta me! I was told yesterday that a dull toothache I have had for a couple of weeks is from a cracked molar. DDS scheduled my for a RC & crown but the procedure is 4 days prior to a trip to Mexico. He said I could wait until after the trip, but there are no guarantees that it wouldn't abscess in that time. No sign of infection right now, but I am on a 10 day course of antibiotics before the surgery. Ugh...decisions, decisions!

 

[Boho]

Sure, for the part of the tooth you can see. My understanding is that the worst infections occur at the base of the roots, near or in bone....how would we get at those with tools offered over the counter?

I'm not too worried about a dentist injecting medicine or drilling a hole for drainage, or prescribing something like a prescription mouthwash.

I'm interested in what studies have found on patients who don't get a root canal or a pulled tooth where one is normally suggested, when, as an alternative, those patients tried taking impeccable care of their teeth and gums and used whatever non-surgical methods were available.

I wonder what the bacterial count of an "infection" is, when it's on the lower end of what makes a root canal recommended, compared with the bacterial count of the same area of a healthy tooth. People think of an infection as black and white but I bet if you add up the bacteria of all your healthy teeth it's greater than the bacteria of a tooth that "requires" a root canal.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I'm not too worried about a dentist injecting medicine or drilling a hole for drainage, or prescribing something like a prescription mouthwash.

I'm interested in what studies have found on patients who don't get a root canal or a pulled tooth where one is normally suggested, when, as an alternative, those patients tried taking impeccable care of their teeth and gums and used whatever non-surgical methods were available.

I wonder what the bacterial count of an "infection" is, when it's on the lower end of what makes a root canal recommended, compared with the bacterial count of the same area of a healthy tooth. People think of an infection as black and white but I bet if you add up the bacteria of all your healthy teeth it's greater than the bacteria of a tooth that "requires" a root canal.

Interesting question. I think the consensus by dentists is that since infections in the mouth can be such a bad deal, then better safe than sorry.

 

[sengsational]

The idea one might floss their way out of a root canal seems absurd to me. That's not to say that if you made exceptional oral hygiene efforts through your life, those would not pay off in spades! If I could have been a helpful uncle to myself as a kid, I would have made it clear that every adult tooth was precious and make sure I knew the linkage between candy, brushing, and big hairy hands in my mouth with the associated pain.

As to the OP's question, my last root canal, I really didn't have horrific symptoms, but two different dentists assessed the tooth and and confirmed the nerve was a goner. In an ill-advised move, I let the dentist do a root canal, which flared up. He immediately sent me to an endodontist and had the endodontist send the bill to the dentist. The endodontist took much more time, had many more instruments, and better, more frequent imaging. I was surprised when he didn't leave the room to get those multiple images. This is the only non-viable tooth of several that kind of feels foreign. No pain, just like something that almost belongs, but not quite. Might have to do with the crown on it, which was one of those in-office ones (not the impression mould, which I think is a longer process, but creates a better result).

 

[JoeWras]

The idea one might floss their way out of a root canal seems absurd to me. That's not to say that if you made exceptional oral hygiene efforts through your life, those would not pay off in spades!

+1.

Hygiene is very important and necessary to prevent problems.

But stuff happens. Ignoring it doesn't help. Get it early, whatever it is.

There is now a growing suspicion of a connection between oral health and heart and sinus health. Sometimes we need a little help when things go wrong. Get the deep infection out of the mouth as fast as you can and save the rest of your body.

 

[Bob_Walter]

Get a new dentist.

Also "I told Dental Assistant that I'm the kind of nice-guy that girls get bored of, but today, I'm sitting in this chair until I get a new X-RAY, or the police come ask me to leave." this is weird to say. Why not just say "I'd like an xray to see if there is anything else going on, it's been over a month, something isn't right" or something like that.

 

[Bob_Walter]

+1.

Hygiene is very important and necessary to prevent problems.

But stuff happens. Ignoring it doesn't help. Get it early, whatever it is.

There is now a growing suspicion of a connection between oral health and heart and sinus health. Sometimes we need a little help when things go wrong. Get the deep infection out of the mouth as fast as you can and save the rest of your body.

Honestly, I thought that connection was determined years ago.

 

[JoeWras]

Honestly, I thought that connection was determined years ago.

The connection is where the smoking related illness worry was in 1940. "Pretty darn sure, but we need the rigorous studies to 100% confirm it."

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

The connection is where the smoking related illness worry was in 1940. "Pretty darn sure, but we need the rigorous studies to 100% confirm it."

This always befuddled me. Smoking LITERALLY means to inhale a large amount of SMOKE into your lungs. Common sense will tell me this is a terrible idea as far as I am concerned. Even courts made the connection in the 1930s.

But yes, I think there has been ample science and proof that oral infections can kill you.

 

[JoeWras]

This always befuddled me. Smoking LITERALLY means to inhale a large amount of SMOKE into your lungs. Common sense will tell me this is a terrible idea as far as I am concerned. Even courts made the connection in the 1930s.

But yes, I think there has been ample science and proof that oral infections can kill you.

Yes, and the medical establishment has made the connection that having a pocket of pus in your jaw or infected gums is not good for the body either. Still, when you look for an absolute definitive connection, you'll find "we're working on it." There isn't even a large company lobby bugging them.

My parents said everyone knew smoking was bad back in the 30s when they grew up (it will stunt your growth) but there was always excuses, like depressions and wars.

 

[Boho]

I finally found some stats related to untreated oral infections. They sometimes heal when untreated. The article says:

"An interesting finding was the periapical healing observed in 2 of the 5 not endodontically treated teeth that had a periapical lesion in 1974 and that were left untreated during the observation period (Fig. 2). It is reasonable to assume that the dentists during restorative procedures had found the teeth to be vital and left them for observation. The observed healing of the periapical tissues might thus be the result of pulpal inflammation."

 

[Aerides]

Almost anything has a "chance" of healing when untreated. But it has an equal or greater chance of getting worse. I hate that we're sidetracking the OP's thread with this nonsense, but the idea of leaving an infection untreated or "just floss and gargle more mk" is ridiculous.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Almost anything has a "chance" of healing when untreated. But it has an equal or greater chance of getting worse. I hate that we're sidetracking the OP's thread with this nonsense, but the idea of leaving an infection untreated or "just floss and gargle more mk" is ridiculous.

I'm glad you said it. The posted study had a whopping 107 participants.

Oh, and I am still not looking forward to my root canal. Speaking of which...time to take my antibiotic.

 

[John Galt III]

I've had two root canals, both by endodontists. Both were supposed to be two-stage procedures as the OP described - one to clean and pack the canal with antibiotics and the second to finish the job. In both of my cases, they did not get all the root out the first time and so I ended up with 3 appointments (may have been 4 with one of them). I got antibiotics and pain meds both times after the first appointment. I did not have any severe pain with either, but the second one left that tooth sensitive to lateral pressure for many years (it has finally calmed down to barely noticeable). Fortunately, biting down was not painful so it didn't affect eating.

I second JoeWras's suggestion to see an endodontist that has a good reputation for difficult cases. Good luck!

I don't think the average joe can get an idea of who is a 'good' endodontist, except by word of mouth if one is lucky enough to have people around who can recommend one. If you have family members in the dental profession, you might get some accurate inside info. I always check the internet review sites before finding a new medical person, and there sometimes you'll see a doctor or two get criticized for a bad personality, but rarely for lacking skills. But sometimes, yes, their ability is questioned.

 

[papaof2]

Having had multiple root canals - all done by a specialist - I've not had any serious problems. Example: 8AM root canal, then I went to work for the rest of the day.
You really need someone who knows what he/she is doing.