No need to stay out, it was a good point. Aspirin inhibits clotting and is not a good idea before any time someone’s planning to cut into you. I bet a lot of people don’t consider that they’ll bleed during dental procedures, so it was a very good tip. But there’s also no reason to avoid other painkillers when they can prevent the pain instead of clearing it up afterwards. It’s always easier to head off pain that to get rid of it.
Oh my Buddha! Well, THAT certainly goes toward ensuring I stay put over here for a good while longer. :eek:
I even posted elsewhere that I had to see a specialist oral surgeon a couple of months ago. Because my permanent bridge (which cost me US$514) was in the way, he had to cut through the gum to get into the part of the tooth below the gum line where my cavity was, and that set me back about US$24.
You know, Thailand has a big “medical tourism” promotion going. What you pay in airfare is more than made up by what you save by seeing a Thai doctor. The thing is that most medical tourists go to the big Western-oriented hospitals. No big deal, I do too, MOST of the time. But my dentist is in a little neighborhood shop near where I live. He speaks excellent English, but tourists would have a hard time finding him. But he is truly top of the line; I would never trade him for another dentist. Still, even at the tourist hospitals, you’re going to pay much less for medical and dental care than you would in the West.
Had one two months ago. About the time I thought she was going to get started with it…it was over.
I had it done at 10:00 AM and had a little bit of soreness around 5PM. I took a Vicodin because I had some, but I probably would have been fine with some Tylenol.
When I had my one root canal (so far… others are likely) I could have taken some strong benzos beforehand. I opted not to, thinking that the crown I’d had done wasn’t so bad.
I regretted it. I’m very difficult to numb, and have a really high anxiety level about dental procedures in general. The endo gave me a Dalmane once he peeled me off the ceiling after the first novocaine shot, but at that point it was too late for it to do much for me.
Anyway - my root canal experience was worse than most people describe (phew!! I’m glad it’s easier for others) but if you have any issues with dental anxiety, definitely use whatever pharmaceuticals they offer before/during. I had a bunch of other work done a few weeks ago, with a combination of Halcion and nitrous, and it was… well, not “fun” but quite tolerable. I won’t make the same mistake of going unmedicated again. I’ll also go to a different endodontist - one who does nitrous (the first guy doesn’t). Also I mistrust the fact that he was down inside the tooth and didn’t realize it was cracked,
After my root canal, I used a couple of the nice Vicodins they gave me. My discomfort was actually worse after that, so the endo put me on steroids for a couple of days which really helped. Ultimately my tooth had to be extracted - there was evidence that it was cracked and nothing would have fixed it (too bad they didn’t figure that out before the crown and the RC; 2,000 spent for 2 procedures that failed, when a 200.00 extraction solved the problem).
number me among those who have had some bad root canals. i think i’m up to eight or nine now.
most were okay, but the last two could be catagorized as originating from the lowest circle of hell, and in both cases they were cracked and like the op, one of them eventually had to be pulled and i had an implant put. **that ** was pricey, but the best thing was i insisted on iv sedation, based on my previous experiences. my dentist found an oral surgeon who did it, so i was totally out for the whole thing.
because of those two teeth from hell, i now have white coat syndrome on steroids the minute i get in the chair. i highly recommend finding someone who will do iv sedation dentistry. it’s the only freakin’ way i’ll ***ever ** * have another root canal, period, and the way my teeth run, there will be more in my future.
The worst part is the crown. More than anything I hate sitting with that crap in my mouth for 5 minutes while they get an impression. Not only does it taste bad, it makes me think it is running down my throat and is going to choke me.