My experience yesterday with my root canal

Since I was a kid, I heard about the horrors of getting a root canal. People said they were extremely painful and the procedure was very unpleasant.

I got to dodge this experience until February 2010. That's when I got the bad news that I needed my first root canal. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it would be expensive, but I knew I could afford it just fine, so I wasn't that bothered by that aspect. But was the procedure itself going to be horrible?

At the time, Benjamin didn't exist yet. I was with his soon-to-be-mom, but we hadn't conceived him yet, and we didn't live together (or close to each other -- recall I lived in Vegas!)

Strangely enough, it is likely that Benjamin was conceived on the day before my first root canal. I left town to get it done, and didn't see her again for about a week. The timing of everything makes it very likely that Benjamin wouldn't exist had I needed the root canal just one day earlier.

But back to the procedure itself. I had told my dentist I wanted it done at an endodontist because they specialize in root canals. He obliged and referred me to one.

I got there, they laid me almost flat on the dental chair, and they put this obnoxious thing over my mouth:

https://yorkhillendodontics.com/wp-c...dental-dam.jpg


:wtf2

No fucking way was I wearing that thing. Felt like I was being suffocated. Yes, that's actually rubber, and you cannot breathe through it. I told the endodontist that I wouldn't be able to do this. Keep in mind this was 8.5 years before the severe anxiety problems which hit me in August 2018. He insisted that the dental dam was a mandatory piece of safety equipment, which had to be there.

I asked, "Well, does it need to cover my whole mouth? Can you cut the half which is on the side of my mouth you're not working on?"

Surprisingly, nobody had requested him to do that before. He acknowledged that others had a problem with the dental dam, but those people were told to either deal with it, have the tooth extracted, or get the procedure done while put under. They hadn't considered cutting half of it.

He paused to consider it, and agreed to cut it. I also told him I hate being all the way on my back during dental work, so he agreed to lean me up more.

Apparently I also had some (harmless) genetic abnormality which caused a tooth which normally had 2 roots to have 3. He said this was the first time he had ever seen it, and actually sent a "thank you" note to my dentist, because it was "cool" to be able to work on such an unusual tooth. LOL!

I didn't love the procedure, but there were at least a few pleasant surprises:

1) The procedure itself didn't hurt or bother me any more than getting a cavity filled, aside from taking longer. I was sure it would be awful, but it wasn't.

2) The only bothersome thing was the dental dam, which I still didn't like even with half of it cut (though the half cut was a HUGE difference).

3) There wasn't a tremendous amount of pain afterwards. Just some soreness which was completely gone within 48 hours.


After the crown, the Jew wallet was close to $2500 lighter, but I was owning heads in limit holdem online at time, so I just chalked it up to taking a bad beat on a $2500 pot (which happened all the time), and didn't let that part get to me.



Fast forward almost 5 years to December 2014.

A filling fell out of one of my teeth. I went to a new local dentist by me, expecting him to simply refill the tooth, and that would be that. Nope! Turned out the filling fell out because decay developed under the filling, and the pain I was feeling was due to the decay hitting the nerve, not the hole in my tooth. Ugh. Root canal time again.

I went to a different and closer endodontist this time. I negotiated up front that they would commit to cutting half the dental dam. After some initial balking, they reluctantly agreed.

I went there, and loaded up some music on my phone to listen to as a distraction. Then I got there and realized that I forgot my headphones. I asked if they had headphones, and they did, but they didn't fit the iPhone. They had some headphones for some weird iPod-like devices they gave to people there, which were preloaded with a very small selection of music. I took one of them, scrolled through the choices, and picked Toby Keith. This time the dental dam was even more bothersome than the previous time, and I wasn't sure I would be able to get through it. However, I just closed by eyes, listened to the music, and Toby got me through it. Again, the procedure itself wasn't a big deal aside from that stupid dental dam.

Continued next post...

Fast forward another almost 4 years, to August 2018.

I had my crippling anxiety and depression problem, which most of you know about. These were from a physical cause, and not a life issue, and they were incredibly severe -- about as high-level as one can get with such problems. At the time, I was really hoping I wouldn't need a root canal, as there would be a 0.0% chance I could get through one like that. I could barely even sit on my own couch. Well, fortunately no dental problems came up, and within 3 months, I was mostly better. However, I felt the lingering effects of what had happened, and thought it was possible I suffered some permanent psychological damage from that hellish period. Turns out that's exactly what happened. While I no longer deal with daily anxiety or depression, I do occasionally bump into reminders that I'm not 100% better, and likely never will be.

For that reason, I still dreaded a root canal being necessary.

I had some cavities I needed filled, which I had planned to do in early 2020, but then... BAM! COVID was here. I couldn't get cavities filled. Only emergency dental work was allowed. Also, I wasn't thrilled with spending an hour up close and personal with the dentist and hygeniests.

About 2 weeks ago, I started to feel some abrupt pain in a tooth in the left-bottom-back of my mouth. At first I chalked it up to something irritating my gums in the area, as it had no hot-cold or pressure sensitivity. However, by this past weekend, I started to develop sensitivity to cold, and I had a feeling what was coming.

Fuck! If only COVID hadn't hit, I would have gotten that cavity taken care of many months ago.

:no

The problem was that, again, I was looking for a new dentist. The one I had locally had moved out-of-state, and I heard some bad things about the one replacing him in the same office.

I found one by me with good reviews, and visited on Tuesday.

Looked like a good office. Clean. Modern. Professional. Dentist was very detailed and showed me everything on the X-rays (including things about other teeth). Didn't get the scammy vibe from them at all, which is important, because the dental industry is FULL of scammers and semi-scammers. Even several offices in my neighborhood have a terrible rep for this.

I negotiated the initial exam and full mouth X-Rays for $59. This wasn't a special, but something they gave me because I basically told them I was looking for a new office and would keep going there if I was happy. In times of COVID, I'm sure they're happy to get any patients that walk through the door.

Anyway, I got the bad news. Root canal necessary. The pain was from a lot of decay which hit the nerve, as is usually the case.

I told them about my 2018 bout with severe anxiety, and how the root canal process was going to be especially tough now. The dentist said that the dental dam is very necessary for the portion where the tooth has to stay dry, but that's only at the end. He said he could do without it during the rest of the procedure. Then I had to break the bad news to him that I wanted the procedure done at an endodontist, but would go to him for the crown (where he still makes well over $1k). He was totally fine with that and referred me to an endodontist he liked.

Unfortunately, none of the endodontists would agree to do what he offered. They all demanded the dental dam on from start to finish, and at most would agree to trim it like I had done the other two times.

Finally, one of the endodontist offices leveled with me: I'll never find one willing to do this. Since it's their specialty, they don't want to cut corners from "best practices", or it could really hurt their rep if something went wrong. Excellent point, and likely correct.

I called back the dentist and said, "I'll have it here, after all!"


It was scheduled for yesterday in the morning. I did the following right before the appointment:

- Used nasal spray so I could breathe through my nose more easily

- Used my Biotene Dry Mouth rinse, so the "dry mouth" feeling during the work would be less bothersome

- Popped two 0.25mg Xanax. I had never done more than a single pill before, so I figured this would be very effective. I only use Xanax very rarely these days.


While I felt the Xanax effects, it wasn't enough. They started the procedure, and I started feeling hot. Then I started getting an anxious, panicky feeling. Crap! I wasn't afraid of anything, I just couldn't relax, and it seemed hard to only breathe through my nose.

I asked for a short break, which I felt bad about, but not too bad because I was going to be leaving almost $3k in this office by the time this and the crown were done. I wasn't sure if I could get through it. I considered aborting it, but what then? I wasn't ready to give up and extract it, and I hate "sleep dentistry", and will only do that if absolutely necessary (too many bad stories from this, which I've heard from others).

Continued...

I stood up and told them I was going back to my car to "get something".

That "something" was a third Xanax pill. I popped it, walked back in, and tried again.

By the time they got going again, it was also starting to take effect. That was the key. I felt far more relaxed, and while I can't say it was an enjoyable experience, I was able to get through the entire 90+ minute procedure, and they were even able to leave the tooth in a state where it didn't need a temporary crown. I'm going back to complete the rest (the crown prep) on Tuesday, which will require no dental dam, and will take about an hour.

Not being used to 0.75mg of Xanax (being triple of what I've ever taken), I felt very fatigued, and went to sleep for 6 hours.

Anyway, glad this is mostly over. My mouth is still sore in that area, but not sensitive to cold anymore. I was told this is normal, and I remember it feeling sore for a day or two after the previous two root canals. The dentist said it went well, and that it looks good. Despite my rough beginning, I didn't make them take any breaks once it got going. We went straight through from start to finish.

I'm happy with this office's willingness to be flexible with me. I thanked them for that, and for putting up with that break I asked for at the very beginning. Probably a pain in the ass for them, but it's something I can't help at this point.

I will be using 0.75mg of Xanax for future dental appointments requiring anything beyond a checkup or X-rays.

Since my mouth and jaw are sore, I will not do radio this week, and will do it next on Friday, 10/30.



TL;DR:

- I have permanent psychological damage from my ordeal in 2018

- Root canals aren't that bad aside from the dental dam

- Dental dams are terrible and make you feel suffocated

- Endodontists are stubborn and won't modify their rigid procedures

- Dentists are less stubborn and will work with you if you want things changed (within reason)

- Root canals and crowns are tough on the Jew wallet

- 0.75mg of Xanax saved the day

- COVID shutdowns of non-emergency medical/dental procedures suck

Having "psychological" defects is a tough one, because it is hard to show in ways unless looking for that maybe then. It's often debatable as to if a persons saying they are that has merit. I don't get involved or think about that stuff ever, but that's one id think highly debatable area. Whether or not someone is truly suffering from brain issues or not.

And yes Dental is the worst to have done, and who wants to have there mouth all worked on and hurting, no one I know lol.

Root canals are the nut low. Next time (hopefully never), skip the Xanax and smoke a big fatty beforehand, then demand the laughing gas.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

The problem was that, again, I was looking for a new dentist. The one I had locally had moved out-of-state, and I heard some bad things about the one replacing him in the same office.

---

Druff, great story. Just wanted to use a tiny portion of it to help root out some inappropriate grammar that I’ve increasingly seen among the younger generations. And that is the misuse of hyphens. Here’s a handy quick reference on when and how to use them.

http://www.thewriter.com/what-we-thi...-to-hyphenate/

Re your use of hyphens in the quoted section of your post above: “Out of state” in this context is not an adjective, as it is not modifying a noun. Instead, it is adding more detail to the action by the subject (the verb), and as such does not require hyphens. If instead, you had used “out-of-state” to modify a noun describing a location or business in another state, e.g. “...had moved to an out-of-state practice”, then the hyphens would be appropriate in order to create a compound adjective.

Here’s an example of a sentence in which both no hyphens and hyphens are appropriate when using the same group of words.

“If you move out of state, you may need to surrender your out-of-state drivers license when applying for a drivers license in the state you have moved to.“

Again, great story.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jayjami

Root canals are the nut low. Next time (hopefully never), skip the Xanax and smoke a big fatty beforehand, then demand the laughing gas.

---

I disageee wholeheartedly.

Fatties before root canal are the worst.
Cannabis' ability to help one focus seems to kick in at inopportune moments.
Root canals being them moments.

Druff, which was worse, the root canal or the idiotic way the Dodgers lost game 4?

BUMP

Still have pressure pain on the tooth 5 days later. Went to the dentist today. He acknowledged it's unusual, but not super unusual. Obviously need to wait more time before jumping to any conclusions.

He did raise the unfortunate possibility that the tooth had a tiny fracture the entire time, which couldn't have been seen on the X-Ray or while he was working, and that the tooth will have to be extracted. But it's too early to say that.

I will say that the pattern of the tooth hurting was different than previous root canal timelines. In those, I felt a sensitivity to cold first, then the pain came after. In this one, I woke up about 2.5 weeks ago to noticeable pain in that tooth, but no hot/cold sensitivity. Several days later, the sensitivity started.

It is possible the tooth was already weak from the decay, and I fractured it while clenching my jaw during my sleep (from a dream or something). That would explain both the sudden emergence of pain after waking up, and the fact that the root canal fixed the sensitivity but not the pressure pain on it.

This would really suck, because I would have endured this root canal (and the expensive bill) for nothing, and lose the tooth anyway. Ugh.

My real hope here is that this is similar to a situation I had twice in the past with extractions. Those extractions, which typically have about 1-2 days of moderate after-pain, had very bothersome constant pain lasting 3-4 weeks, despite visually looking great. Three different dentists could not explain the pain lasting 3-4 weeks, but both times it abruptly vanished. I'm hoping this goes the same way. The X-rays showed no problem with the root canal, and it looks like everything is fine. But maybe it's not.

Dental stuff is so frustrating.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

BUMP

Still have pressure pain on the tooth 5 days later. Went to the dentist today. He acknowledged it's unusual, but not super unusual. Obviously need to wait more time before jumping to any conclusions.

He did raise the unfortunate possibility that the tooth had a tiny fracture the entire time, which couldn't have been seen on the X-Ray or while he was working, and that the tooth will have to be extracted. But it's too early to say that.

I will say that the pattern of the tooth hurting was different than previous root canal timelines. In those, I felt a sensitivity to cold first, then the pain came after. In this one, I woke up about 2.5 weeks ago to noticeable pain in that tooth, but no hot/cold sensitivity. Several days later, the sensitivity started.

It is possible the tooth was already weak from the decay, and I fractured it while clenching my jaw during my sleep (from a dream or something). That would explain both the sudden emergence of pain after waking up, and the fact that the root canal fixed the sensitivity but not the pressure pain on it.

This would really suck, because I would have endured this root canal (and the expensive bill) for nothing, and lose the tooth anyway. Ugh.

My real hope here is that this is similar to a situation I had twice in the past with extractions. Those extractions, which typically have about 1-2 days of moderate after-pain, had very bothersome constant pain lasting 3-4 weeks, despite visually looking great. Three different dentists could not explain the plain lasting 3-4 weeks, but both times it abruptly vanished. I'm hoping this goes the same way. The X-rays showed no problem with the root canal, and it looks like everything is fine. But maybe it's not.

Dental stuff is so frustrating.

---

IMO between root canal and extraction just go extraction and then get an implant. For me the pain of getting a tooth pulled lasts a few days at worst, I dunno why it lasts you so long though that definitely sucks. But, like you said it disappears, everyone that I know that has had a root canal says they ended up having issues later on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nunbeater

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

BUMP

Still have pressure pain on the tooth 5 days later. Went to the dentist today. He acknowledged it's unusual, but not super unusual. Obviously need to wait more time before jumping to any conclusions.

He did raise the unfortunate possibility that the tooth had a tiny fracture the entire time, which couldn't have been seen on the X-Ray or while he was working, and that the tooth will have to be extracted. But it's too early to say that.

I will say that the pattern of the tooth hurting was different than previous root canal timelines. In those, I felt a sensitivity to cold first, then the pain came after. In this one, I woke up about 2.5 weeks ago to noticeable pain in that tooth, but no hot/cold sensitivity. Several days later, the sensitivity started.

It is possible the tooth was already weak from the decay, and I fractured it while clenching my jaw during my sleep (from a dream or something). That would explain both the sudden emergence of pain after waking up, and the fact that the root canal fixed the sensitivity but not the pressure pain on it.

This would really suck, because I would have endured this root canal (and the expensive bill) for nothing, and lose the tooth anyway. Ugh.

My real hope here is that this is similar to a situation I had twice in the past with extractions. Those extractions, which typically have about 1-2 days of moderate after-pain, had very bothersome constant pain lasting 3-4 weeks, despite visually looking great. Three different dentists could not explain the plain lasting 3-4 weeks, but both times it abruptly vanished. I'm hoping this goes the same way. The X-rays showed no problem with the root canal, and it looks like everything is fine. But maybe it's not.

Dental stuff is so frustrating.

---

IMO between root canal and extraction just go extraction and then get an implant. For me the pain of getting a tooth pulled lasts a few days at worst, I dunno why it lasts you so long though that definitely sucks. But, like you said it disappears, everyone that I know that has had a root canal says they ended up having issues later on.

---

Both of my previous root canals (2010, 2014) are working out well to this day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nunbeater

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

BUMP

Still have pressure pain on the tooth 5 days later. Went to the dentist today. He acknowledged it's unusual, but not super unusual. Obviously need to wait more time before jumping to any conclusions.

He did raise the unfortunate possibility that the tooth had a tiny fracture the entire time, which couldn't have been seen on the X-Ray or while he was working, and that the tooth will have to be extracted. But it's too early to say that.

I will say that the pattern of the tooth hurting was different than previous root canal timelines. In those, I felt a sensitivity to cold first, then the pain came after. In this one, I woke up about 2.5 weeks ago to noticeable pain in that tooth, but no hot/cold sensitivity. Several days later, the sensitivity started.

It is possible the tooth was already weak from the decay, and I fractured it while clenching my jaw during my sleep (from a dream or something). That would explain both the sudden emergence of pain after waking up, and the fact that the root canal fixed the sensitivity but not the pressure pain on it.

This would really suck, because I would have endured this root canal (and the expensive bill) for nothing, and lose the tooth anyway. Ugh.

My real hope here is that this is similar to a situation I had twice in the past with extractions. Those extractions, which typically have about 1-2 days of moderate after-pain, had very bothersome constant pain lasting 3-4 weeks, despite visually looking great. Three different dentists could not explain the plain lasting 3-4 weeks, but both times it abruptly vanished. I'm hoping this goes the same way. The X-rays showed no problem with the root canal, and it looks like everything is fine. But maybe it's not.

Dental stuff is so frustrating.

---

IMO between root canal and extraction just go extraction and then get an implant. For me the pain of getting a tooth pulled lasts a few days at worst, I dunno why it lasts you so long though that definitely sucks. But, like you said it disappears, everyone that I know that has had a root canal says they ended up having issues later on.

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A decent implant, where they drill and set in the jaw a mounting bolt for the fake tooth, is more expensive than a root canal and fillinh, and can take several months to have put in properly. And that assumes the body doesn’t reject the mounting bolt for some reason, which can happen for some patients.