Ah, I see. I had a chunk break off a lower molar, which already had a filling.
Since you have already had yours, I will mention my recent one. I had an abscess in the root of a lower molar and needed the root canal and a crown. He numbed everything really thoroughly, then started drilling away. Then he hit something that I felt and I flinched, so he stopped and gave me more shots.
He started drilling again, and again I felt a sharp pain in the tooth. He said the infection was preventing the anesthetic from working and he would have to drill to the nerve before he could get it numbed. :eek: It was quit painful, then it got worse when he broke through to the nerve. Then there was a sharp pain when he put in the needle, which quickly disappeared when the Novocaine hit. Didn’t feel a thing after that.
This wasn’t the worst experience I have had in a dentist chair. Frankly, the pain from the infection was worse than the drilling to the tooth nerve. At one point, I was taking 2 vicodin every 6 hours so I could get some sleep. I hurt after the root canal, but I don’t know if it was from the procedure or the last of the infection. Right now my jaw is sore because I got my temporary crown today. My mouth has been very mean to me this year. 
Hey, that sounds like it was worth it 
The fluoride gel treatment has always made me nauseous. Evidently it makes Dweezil nauseous as well. The last time they did that to him, he told them afterward that he felt ill, while he was getting ready to go, and in the waiting area. The bathroom was occupied and the receptionist couldn’t bothered with giving him a trash can. She regretted it :eek: :smack:. I’m a bad person for finding that funny.
Cool that you’ve had such a quick recovery!
I was awakened by the pain last night when I ground my teeth. And tapping on the side of it hurts. this is suspiciously like my last RC, which failed and led to extraction so I phoned the endo this morning. They insist it’s OK, have prescribed high dose Advil and antibiotics, and, well, we’ll see ::crosses fingers::
Just in case:
Make sure you don’t lose it and if you do, put it back ASAP. Dental adhesive works wonders if you need to wait for an appointment.
I have gotten so used to chewing on the other side of my mouth, there is not much chance of losing the temporary. 
After I got my root canal, they put in a (temporary??) filling, and a sealant over it, but I never got a crown, temporary or otherwise. Is something really bad going to happen, or is the crown just to keep the structural integrity of the tooth? I have quite a bit of tooth left, by the way, so I’m not significanly concerned about it breaking. Or should I be?
Crowns are like replacmement teeth. They’re used when there isn’t enough tooth left to be saved. They cut the tooth down to the gumline and place a cap over it until the permanent is ready. To put the permanent in, they drill a hole in the remaining tooth structure; this acts like a miniature version of a post hole.
Don’t worry, if you needed a crown, they would have told you.
That’s the problem, they DID tell me to contact my regular dentist to get a crown. I’m just wondering if they told me because I really, really need it for some reason, or if that’s just “how it’s done”.
As I understand it, you definitely are supposed to get at least a more permanent filling - the endodontist fills the top with something that isn’t designed to last more than a few weeks. Not sure why that is. But you should see your regular dentist soon if you haven’t already.
It’s possible that a root-canaled tooth is presumed to be weaker than one that hasn’t been, and is in greater danger of breaking so a crown is a standard precaution. I’m just guessing on that though.
Yes, you really really need to see your regular dentist. They drill a hole down into your tooth and it much weaker. It is quite possible to break the tooth if you only have the temporary filling in it. If that happens, you will most likely end up with a missing tooth.
I never got a crown on my molar either, Ms. Pumpkin. It’s been 2 years now. Crowns are expensive.
OTOH, with my other root canal I did get a crown, after only 2 weeks (better insurance) but I managed to break off a chunk of the tooth in the meantime anyway.