# Root Canal 32 Hours Ago: Still Fucking Hurts **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 3, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258 "2008-10-03T00:59:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/41 "2009-01-08T10:54:32Z")
Do you guys get any deadening for a filling or do you prefer it without? You know- make the hairs on your toes curl? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/42 "2009-01-08T12:53:30Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I would get all my teeth pulled in a second if it was medically possible to implant new teeth. I’d even go through braces again if they came in crooked. I’ve had 2 root canals on my front tooth and I can never get a crown that looks good. It also doesn’t help that I’ve never trusted dentists and can’t get over my suspicion that my childhood dentist hoodwinked my dad into filling several “cavities” that didn’t actually exist. There should be some kind of ratings system for dentists and doctors so you can look them up online to find out whether they suck or overcharge. Also, do they _really_ need you to be conscious for some of this crap? Can’t they zonk you out before they start jackhammering your teeth? Many dentists will bring in an anesthesiologist, but it’s very expensive. Also, you can get implants. Also very expensive, but I know quite a few people who’ve gone that route with varying rates of success. One friend paid $17,000 for hers and they didn’t take. Oh, and…no refund for failures. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/43 "2009-01-08T13:01:31Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Not to pick on you, but spoken like someone who has never had one. I’ve had two, both for broken teeth. First of all, they take hours. HOURS, with your mouth jacked open. No filling ever takes a fraction of that time. My jaw muscles were sore for days after the last one, which was on my second to last molar. This does not include whatever pain might be caused by having someone digging out the nerves in your tooth, which despite whatever painkiller they give you or whatever propaganda they spout, yes, you can still feel, and smell. I literally went to my happy place to deal with it. > > That last root canal should have inspired a Pit thread when it happened. The filling broke because of my nighttime jaw clenching, so the dentist went to refill it, but hit the pulp without realizing it. Then she put a filling over the ruptured pulp. It was horribly painful for days. When I went back in, I had to beg the dentist to take out the filling because he said it “looked like nothing was wrong.” Well, when the filling came out, the swollen pulp expanded like it was trying to do within the tooth. I guess it was quite messy, since the dentist seems pretty concerned. However, emergency temporary root canal are 4 words you do NOT want to hear. That took 2 hours. The real root canal with the endodontist took 4 hours. That’s 6 hours of dental procedure, and the whole time you’re thinking, “Is it safe?” > > I am happy to say that they did not charge me for the original filling (ha!) but credited it towards the root canal. Also, it does not hurt anymore, so it was a success. > > I’m so glad that I otherwise have good teeth, and haven’t had a cavity in over 20 years, because I hope I never, ever have to go through a procedure like that again. Wow. That really sucks. But I know lots of people who didn’t have “complications” or a long time in the chair for their root canals. My dad had one a year or so ago. His was absolutely flawless. No pain, no extended seating, no trauma after the fact. I had the “whole mouth gum surgery” a decade or so ago. I was knocked out for that. Having a stitch between every tooth in your mouth is pretty uncomfortable. It was 10 days of that “pot roast between your teeth” feeling. But I would never have done my whole mouth without being knocked out. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/44 "2009-01-08T15:52:52Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > My first root canal gave me very little trouble or discomfort (other than the hit to my wallet). The second one was going as well until the dentist drilled past the Novocain into live unanesthetized nerve. > > When we’d both recovered from my instinctive and instantaneous hurling of myself half out of the chair, he proceeded to INSERT THE NOVOCAIN NEEDLE INTO THE NERVE so he could finish the procedure. > > I will never have another root canal. EVER. My regular dentist understands and refers me to an oral surgeon who’s a wiz at swift, painless extractions when a tooth goes irremedially bad beyond her fixing. > > I’d rather have every frikkin tooth pulled than go through another root canal. Especially when there’s no guarantee that the procedure will actually result in a useable replacement, so there’s all that money and potential suffering for nothing more than an eventual tooth extraction. I’m whimpering and cringing in sympathy. :::shudder::: I had my first root canal about 5 years ago. I’d had the tooth crowned and despite my severe dental anxiety, that wasn’t that bad so I went into the root canal without being doped to the gills. This turns out to have been a major mistake, as the first novocain injection had me screaming and shaking so badly I couldn’t dial a phone (the endodontist gave me a Dalmane but said I had to have someone pick me up afterward… so I had to try to call my husband). The novocaine was not successful and the endo had to give me more novocaine directly into the tooth. Fast forward a couple of years later, new primary dentist who believes in GOOD anesthesia (for me, this means a Halcion an hour beforehand, nitrous during, and lalalalala I can’t feel a thing). The endodontist who did _that_ root canal was surprised when I told him I’d be on Halcion as well as the nitrous he could offer. I assured him he did NOT want me sober. The procedure went almost totally painlessly - one time, I thought I felt the beginning of a twinge, but that ended almost immediately. So - despite your experience that one time, if they ever do suggest you get another root canal, it CAN be made tolerable (and this is coming from someone with pretty severe, and well-deserved, dental phobia). I do agree with you on the waste of money - my first one resulted in an extraction as neither the crown nor the root canal worked. The second one (the more tolerable one), the tooth still hurts if I bite down hard on it and I fear it’s slated to go also, though it’s settled down a little lately (doesn’t hurt at random, at least). ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/45 "2009-01-08T16:44:47Z")
Jayzuz…that’s a freekin’ horror story. I’m very lucky to have virtually no trouble with my teeth. I got my first two nearly-microscopic fillings at the age of 50. And I could use braces. It’s the soft tissue that’s a problem, but now that I’m following the 4xYearly cleaning program, I’m doing well. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/46 "2009-01-08T23:24:10Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I would get all my teeth pulled in a second if it was medically possible to implant new teeth. I’d even go through braces again if they came in crooked. I’ve had 2 root canals on my front tooth and I can never get a crown that looks good. It also doesn’t help that I’ve never trusted dentists and can’t get over my suspicion that my childhood dentist hoodwinked my dad into filling several “cavities” that didn’t actually exist. There should be some kind of ratings system for dentists and doctors so you can look them up online to find out whether they suck or overcharge. Also, do they _really_ need you to be conscious for some of this crap? Can’t they zonk you out before they start jackhammering your teeth? After 34 or so years of painful dentistry, I’ve started doing sedation dentistry, and I would recommend it to anyone who isn’t one of the lucky bastards in this thread who have painless work done in their mouths. I was sedated for my root canal, and I still felt at least one sharp jab that had me grabbing for whatever the dentist was doing to me. I’m fairly sure my root canal would have had me whimpering in the chair if not for the sedation (and I have a fairly high pain threshold and am pretty stoic). This is a timely revival of the thread - I’m off to the dentist tomorrow to see about a persistent pain in my tooth on biting down. Fingers crossed it will just be a filling replacement, not a root canal and crown. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/47 "2009-01-09T00:00:57Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Wow. That really sucks. But I know lots of people who didn’t have “complications” or a long time in the chair for their root canals. My dad had one a year or so ago. His was absolutely flawless. No pain, no extended seating, no trauma after the fact. I had my first (and only so far) root canal in December. It wasn’t bad at all. The hardest part was keeping my mouth open wide enough, and they had to wedge a big thing in my jaw so they could get to my last molar. Other than that, the only uncomfortable thing about it was there was so much Novacaine, I couldn’t feel the back of my throat, and it was a little unsettling not to feel my throat when swallowing. As for pain, there was none. Even after the endodontic treatment (which lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes), I didn’t have to take any painkillers or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/48 "2009-01-09T01:27:39Z")
This thread has been a real eye-opener. I thought 6 hours in the chair and discomfort were mandatory and unavoidable parts of the root canal process. Makes me want to rethink my dentists, seriously. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/49 "2009-01-10T00:57:10Z")
I’m sorry to hear you’re having pain and suffering. That doesn’t sound right. I Just wanted to say I’ve had several root canals over the years which were more boring than anything else. The last one, about 3 years ago, took one appointment, one afternoon, and the most painful thing was the bill, over $900. (But maybe it’s just me, I’ve had multiple teeth extracted and dozens of fillings over the years with just novocaine, so maybe I’m just used to having my teeth messed with.) ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258/50 "2009-01-10T01:32:49Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > This thread has been a real eye-opener. I thought 6 hours in the chair and discomfort were mandatory and unavoidable parts of the root canal process. Makes me want to rethink my dentists, seriously. That may be a good idea. I never had dental treatment while I was in the US (and it shows) but I had an RCT today. It took about 45 minutes - no crown involved. It wasn’t fun, of course, but it didn’t hurt. Some of that 45 minutes was taken up with x-rays, during which time my dentist scolded me for having a “tiny mouth”. She has the bedside manner of a barracudda, but she’s very competent and if I express any signs of pain or discomfort, she’ll stop and deal with things before continuing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-32-hours-ago-still-fucking-hurts/466258.md?page=2)