Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: rosielee on 02/05/2013 17:16:28
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I have a really painful tooth abscess (with facial and neck gland swelling) and am on antibiotics until next Tuesday. My options are apparently root canal or extraction. I've heard that root canals can be VERY painful. Is this true......I'm a bit of a whimp as far as the dentist goes? The crown of the tooth seems resonably intact (it has been previously filled though), from what I can see the infection took hold via a hole in the gum adjacent to a chip on the tooth edge.
Rosie Lee
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I have a really painful tooth abscess (with facial and neck gland swelling) and am on antibiotics until next Tuesday. My options are apparently root canal or extraction. I've heard that root canals can be VERY painful. Is this true......I'm a bit of a whimp as far as the dentist goes? The crown of the tooth seems resonably intact (it has been previously filled though), from what I can see the infection took hold via a hole in the gum adjacent to a chip on the tooth edge.
Rosie Lee
Nah. It's exactly like having a filling put in. They numb it up quite well with lidocaine first so that there's no senseation. If you go to an oral surgeon they can put you out. I'm chicken when it comes to having teeth pulled so I'm going for the knockout myself. I have to have the remains of a broken tooth pulled on monday. I'll have to suffer until then myself.
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Thanks Pmb I feel a bit less nervous now
R
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Be sure the dentist gets all the "roots" in the first pass. Maybe the procedure is different now, in my case they numbed, opened the tooth and removed a nerve and then I had to wait a week for the next step. At this point the tooth should feel no pain as there are no nerves present. However, the dentist had taken only one x-ray from the side and missed a second nerve in the tooth. In addition to being in pain for a week (which he said was not possible) I nearly punched the dentist when he inserted a probe to clean out the canal as he was digging into a live nerve. I'm not a violent fellow, it was a reflex to the pain. I'm guessing this is a rare event but one I'll never forget, might be worth a mention to the dentist before he starts. If all goes well there should be very little pain involved.
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Well, Rosielee, you should consider yourself lucky that you have teeth (assuming you are married).
In the not too distant past, a wedding present for the bride might well have been to have all her choppers removed and replaced with a false set. It was considered the best option for the groom, since it would obviate the need for expensive dental work in the future. As for the bride, she could be assured that she would never get a toothache. See this (http://qi.com/television/series-j/joints/false-teeth). Of course, that would not stop her from getting a headache!
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I have had root canal in the past month, and must say that modern dental anaesthetics are very effective! The dentist even painted the area with a local anaesthetic before giving me the needle with the local anaesthetic!
Unlike distimpson, they got all the nerves on the first visit, and the second visit didn't need an anaesthetic.
After that I have to go to my regular dentist to put on a crown.
I have also had a tooth pulled, and that was also fairly painless - but if the tooth has twisted roots, the extraction could get rather dramatic, and root canal may be a better option (but more visits and more bills).
I think the most severe pain is the one in your pocket as you pay the bill.
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I didn't even know root canal filings were still carried out, there are more up to date methods of dentistry available :)
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In this situation you can surely consider root canal as this will prevent further decay and infection towards root, gums and nerves. If you have heavy swelling and pain you can consider tooth extraction also but check for your options with a dentist for sure. You need to worry very little about pain because dental procedures such as root canal and teeth implant are being carried out by means of giving local anesthesia. There are chances of further pain after the treatment but that tend to decrease by time. Check out this link http://www.phelandental.com/services/implant-dentistry/10-major-benefits-of-dental-implants/ so as to know about some of the major benefits of teeth implants.
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Root canal is not that much painful and you only have to bear the pain of anaesthesia. I was also having root canal (https://plus.google.com/104093172817479331093/) few weeks before.
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there are more up to date methods of dentistry available :)
Other alternatives include:
- Leaving a blank space between your teeth: Very traditional. Chewing and/or biting will be less effective, but that is not much of a problem with a Western diet of high-calorie pre-processed food. If the gap is right at the front, it will have some cosmetic impact.
- Dental Implant: If a tooth is too badly decayed to do root-canal therapy, one alternative is to have a dental implant, which is a false tooth screwed into the jaw. But I understand that it costs about twice as much as root-canal therapy.
- Getting a dental plate: If you have a few missing teeth, artificial teeth can be mounted on a framework which fits into your mouth.
I am sure there must be other options...
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Root canal treatment is the procedure of removing infected, damaged or dead pulp from your tooth. The space inside the hard layers of each tooth is known to be the root canal system. This system is filled with soft dental pulp made up of nerves and blood vessels that aid your tooth grow and develop. And it’s not such a painful task. You just need to consult an expert dentist who does the therapy professionally using sedation in which you need not to suffer excessive pain after the process. I’ve too undergone the root canal therapy in a famed dental clinic in Oshawa, Canada few months ago, but i assure you it’s not that painful as we think. All the best. Get well soon and stay brave.
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