I just had a root canal! wot???

[Amblydoper]

I just spent the last hour and a half with my mouth cranked open, while a dentist drilled and poked and melted my tooth away! It was unpleasant. Though it was actually pretty cool seeing smoke coming out of my mouth, but the smell was horendous. I think he said he was removing tissue that grew over the tooth, or removing some decay, or something, but it was then only thing that actually hurt. At one point, he was waving some sharp pointy tool about an inch from my eye. My only working eye, mind you. I was a tad frightened.

Then they had to take xrays to see how they were doing. three of them, cause the first two missed the target. Each made me gag a little, especially the last one.

Turn out they didn’t fill in deep enough, or something… Start over!

The dentist kept saying he “can’t see it again,” what ever that meant. And it seems they kept doing the same thing over again. At this point, my lips were completely dry and chaffed, and getting pinched between every combination of tool and finger between the dentist and the assistant. Feel free to find all sorts of dirty humor in that description, if you feel like it.

$400 later, and they are done! Well, not really, because I still need two crowns and a super-intensive-uncomfortable-cleaning. Anyone want to post spoilers about how painful and torturous those procedures will be? And what exactly is a root canal? what did they do to my tooth?

Lesson of the story: don’t wait 10 years to see the dentist!

[Bytegeist]

I had my first (and hopefully only) root canal in early 2009. Harrowing as it was, I was surprised at the lack of pain during the procedure, and lack of discomfort afterward. Going into it, I was expecting a glimpse of Hell. People certainly hype it up that way.

Now a tooth extraction on the other hand, followed by installation of an implant — well that’s a different story. But for another day.

I’m not a dentist, but as I understand it a root canal essentially (A) kills (deliberately) the nerves leading into the tooth, and (B) excavates the rotten bits, preparing the tooth for the permanent filling and crown to be done later. In the meantime they send you off with a temporary filling, which, whenever your tongue passes over it, feels and tastes like licking a city sidewalk. I lived with that for over a month before the crown was ready.

The installation of the crown went smoothly, at least in my case. The anaesthesia worked great, as it always does. Unfortunately there’s more prying open of the jaw for much longer and wider than you’d really care for. (Without being paid good money anyway.) And after the filling is in and the crown is on, the dentist spends lots of time fiddling with its exact position, making lots of tiny adjustments so it’s not too high or low when you bite. It’s like when you go to the optometrist and you have to keep choosing between two lenses over and over. A binary search algorithm, applied to your body.

Like you are about to do, I also underwent a deep cleaning — because, like you, I had skipped going to the dentist for several years. (Seven though instead of ten.) I remember they used some kind of ultra-sound device on me to loosen the plaque, which probably saved a lot of time on scraping. Not that there won’t be some scraping. Oy, the scraping.

One difference in my case: when I returned to the dentist after the long hiatus, they did the cleaning first, right away, weeks and months before the later surgeries (a root canal, an extraction, and an implant). There might be a medical reason for that choice, or maybe the order doesn’t really matter.

Anyway, I’m glad you’re getting fixed up. It’ll be such a relief when it’s done.

Oh, and yes. To the kids out there: take care of your god damn mouth.

[SeaDragonTattoo]

Oh Boy! I just got my first crown fitted on Monday - the temp’s in, and the lab orders are on the way for a gold molar, scheduled to be installed on January 6th. My disappointment and shock at the cost and how little insurance will pay is described in my Dental Insurance is Crappy thread.

I had a “full mouth debridement” on November 18th. Apparently some people get some numbing or some nitrous for this procedure, but my hygienist said that though I needed the debridement it shouldn’t be too bad, so we gave it a go. It wasn’t too bad. I had a little of that “zing” root pain around the backs of my lower two front teeth for a couple seconds, and other than that it was just uncomfortable. She showed me how she wanted me to do my flossing after that (deeper than usual) in a mirror and all my teeth were coated in blood. I have another cleaning and 2 cavity fills scheduled for the 23rd of this month.

I don’t need any root canal work done, though, so I can’t really help with info there. The prep work my dentist did on Monday with the filing down of the tooth and all that took nearly 2.5 hours! My gums around the tooth, and especially behind it, are really sore. I’ve been taking Naproxen to keep any swelling down and to calm the ouchy gum back there.

I found some useful information as far as “what the heck are crowns, anyway?” at these two websites: animated teeth, and Consumer Guide to Dentistry. I found these easy to read and extremely informative. Happy reading!

I also need 2 more crowns done, three total. Good times.

[Faelyn]

I had my first and only (so far) root canal down in August. It was pain free for the most part, the numbing shot hurt and I felt like my cheeks were being ripped open from all the stretching! And to top it off, he kept looking back at the tv that I was supposed to be watching, and was dropping his tools on my face! Ugh!

I had the temp and mold made a few weeks after that. Took about 15 minutes in total and was only slightly uncomfortable. I had to hold a cup of goo in my mouth until it hardened and it made me want to gag. The assistant who put my temp in used the most vile, disgusting flavored glue I had ever encountered! Seriously, just thinking about it gives me the chills! And all for nothing too, the temp fell out about two hours later, after the dentist had already gone home. The secretary called the doc’s cell and get this, the doc says it’s fine and I didn’t really have to have it. So… We just all that for… what now? :dubious:

Thankfully my crown came in about two weeks later. I was in and out of there in only 5 minutes! Easy peasy

Edited to add: I guess I was lucky, my insurance covered everything!