A root canal,What's one of those??? (Root Canal Treatment / Endodontic Therapy)

Member Name: Brown_eyes1984

Product:	Root Canal Treatment / Endodontic Therapy
Date:	20/05/06 (10745 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: gets rid of pain and infection

Disadvantages: uncomfortable at times

When I found out that I needed to have a root canal treatment I nearly had a heart attack. I hate anything to do with needles and having had no surgery whatsoever, I am absolutely petrified of the thought of undergoing any procedure whether it's major or minor. However the most important reason for not liking the whole root canal idea was that I absolutely hate the dentist!

I know for a fact that I'm not alone when I say that I hate the dentist as most people admit to having an extreme phobia of getting in that chair. Maybe it's the thought of not being in control or maybe it's the lovely array of the dentist's torture equipment that practically stares you right in the face once you're in there that does it? Whatever it is, it is enough to put people off going until it is absolutely necessary, until the pain is just too unbearable. That is exactly what I did and boy do I wish I hadn't waited until it was too late to get things sorted!

Personally I had never heard of root canal treatment before so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I had to research everything as even though my dentist explained a little about what he was going to do, I was still in the dark about the actual procedure. So I researched as much as possible. In fact it took up most of my spare time…I was obsessed with knowing what I was letting myself in for. It turned out though that although there was some very useful information out there on the procedure itself, there were also a lot of horror stories and by the time I'd finished reading them I was even more scared than I was originally.

Through all my research I didn't find one persons experience written down from start to finish. It was all well and good reading what was involved in the procedure and reading few peoples reviews saying that they had it and it wasn't as bad as they thought it was, but I wanted details. I wanted a step by step account of what happened from somebody who has actually had it done. I wanted to know if it hurt, what they went through, how long it took and everything, but I didn't get it. So that is why I suggested this category to ciao. I'm hoping that by giving my own detailed - no bits barred - account of what I went through, I can help other people who are facing having a root canal and provide to people who knew nothing about the procedure, with enough information in case they ever do need one. So sit back, grab a coffee, put down those sweets (just in case) and prepare to be informed!

*** How I came To Have My Root Canal? ***

I found out that I needed a root canal after my back tooth started to really cause me pain. This was due to part of the tooth breaking off three years ago whilst I was eating a chicken burger and after years of not doing anything about it, the tooth had started to decay through daily wear and tear. The decay was so close to my nerve that it started to cause me problems.

I went through a further year and a bit of fairly mild pain, sometimes getting quite bad and in stages I had to take painkillers every day until it decided to calm down again and disappear for a while. It seemed to get worse when I ate any kind of junk food but it still didn't deter me from eating it! I simply took painkillers and it went away. However it got to a point where the pain got worse and I couldn't take it anymore so I went to see a dentist.

Now I hadn't been to a dentist in at least ten years and I wasn't registered so I had to ring around and try and get registered somewhere. Unfortunately I ended up with a private dentist who charged me £49 registration and initial consultation fee. That in itself was expensive I thought but little did I know just how expensive they actually were! The woman was friendly and she told me I would need a root canal treatment, it would take two appointments and each would take around 45 minutes each. She would then put a cap on after the treatment was done which she assured me wouldn't cost too much. So off I went to the reception ready to book. The receptionist printed out how much it was all going to cost and to my utter disbelief it was £499!What did they think I was made of money? So I had to find another dentist, I rang around and got registered with an NHS dentist who told me the most their treatment would cost me would be £180 which was a lot better and affordable in a few months of saving!

So I went to the dentist, registered and was told that I needed a filling. So I went back for a filling, had it done and was then told I would probably need a root canal treatment as the x-ray had shown that the decay was actually closer to the tooth than he had first thought and it was extremely likely it could cause me further problems. I was instructed to go back to him if I had any pain whatsoever. So back at home and a few months later I started getting pain again. I had, had permanent mouth ulcers since my last visit and my mouth was in extreme pain. I never wanted to go back there again. The injection I had to numb my mouth before the filling had made me nearly collapse which was highly embarrassing and the whole procedure of the filling was an ordeal in itself that I really didn't want to go back! So I took painkillers and got on with my life. Then six months later it was back!

The pain started off mild and I took painkillers to control it which seemed to work (as it always did before) and it even disappeared again. Then a month ago it came back with a vengeance! I was in absolute agony! I thought the pain I had before was bad but this was unbearable. It steadily got worse up until the point where it made the whole of the left side of my face hurt like hell. It got so bad I couldn't sleep; all I could do was cry because the pain was too much to bear. I ended up having to make an emergency appointment and luckily enough the dentist agreed to see me that same day, however it was at 4:10pm and that seemed like ages away. I had to spend all day on the sofa with a hot water bottle held against my face. I couldn't move, I felt terrible and whenever I took the hot water bottle away, the pain came back even more unbearable than the last time. I knew I definitely had to have the root canal treatment now and after visiting my dentist he gave me a prescription for some very strong painkillers which he assured me would take the pain away until my next visit to him for the actual procedure which was a week away. I was slightly scared just in case the painkillers didn't work but luckily enough they worked a treat and took my pain away completely. Unfortunately he hadn't given me enough supply and I had to last one day where I was in a lot of pain before I could get it treated.
I absolutely knew I needed a root canal but as I mentioned earlier I was petrified!

*** What Is a Root Canal? ***

OK so I researched as much as I could and I found out that technically this is what a root canal is:

Root canal treatment involves treating the inner aspects of a tooth. There is living tissue inside each tooth and that tissue can get damaged if the tooth is injured or if there is deep decay within the tooth. Without treatment it could cause a dental abscess and the mouth could become swollen and it could make it difficult to swallow and you could end up in extreme pain like I did.

A root canal opens up the pulp chamber in the tooth and cleans out infected tissue then the pulp chamber is filled to prevent further infection. The nerve is also taken out of the tooth before the tooth is cleaned out so that you should feel no more pain in that tooth as technically it is dead.

It is common for a root canal to be done in two appointments. The first the dentist usually takes the nerve out and cleans the tooth out and then they will put a temporary filling on until you go back for your next appointment. Then they will take the filling off, do some further cleaning and finish off with either a cap or a filling.

*** My Experience ***

Above I gave a little description of what a root canal is. Now it's time to find out EXACTLY what goes on in a root canal operation and exactly how much pain is involved!

1) My first appointment

It finally came time for me to have my first appointment. Luckily it was in the morning so I had little time to think about it before I had to actually have it done. To be honest it was a slight relief that I wouldn't be feeling that unbearable pain again and that's the only thing that got me through that day.

I knew I had to have an injection and I knew from my filling that I was going to have to have three to numb the whole of the left side of my face. I was still in pain though so I wasn't too bothered by the thought of the injections this time.

So in I went and I got onto the dentist chair ready for my injections. He told me he was going to give me the injections ready for the operation so I relaxed down until I saw it. The needle is quite long and the worst thing about it is you cannot look away, I suppose you could close your eyes but I didn't, I just watched it go into my mouth and then I felt it. The way the flesh ripped away as the needle pushed itself into my gum at the back of my mouth, it was slightly into the cheek and I can still feel it now. Then another refill of the liquid stuff and another injection went into the upper gum at the back. Then finally the third and the one that irritated me the most, the one to the front of my mouth into the gum just by my bottom teeth. That one really stung and it actually made me squint with the pain. It was nothing compared to the pain in my tooth though so I got over it fairly quick and went into the waiting room for the injections to kick in. This time I was prepared and I read a magazine and had a sip of my water when the numbness started to kick in. For some reason I start to feel really sick and faint when the pins and needles kick in so I always have to take my mind off it now.

Anyway my mouth went numb or at least parts of it did but my tooth still felt quite sensitive. I'd read people's experiences online about the injections not working and the dentist drilling into their tooth when they have still been in agony and because I could still feel something in that tooth I was now extremely worried! So in I went again and I got into the chair. The dentist asked me if my mouth was numb and I said that my tooth was still slightly sensitive. He asked me if my tongue was numb and it was so he said it was fine.

I got into the chair and the dentist was asking the dental nurse for certain dentist things and then I heard it, the drill. Now to be honest I was already mentally prepared for whatever was going to happen in that chair but I still felt slightly nervous. He started drilling into my tooth and it felt really sensitive. It wasn't painful, just sensitive but it was still unpleasant and I was left wondering if it was supposed to feel like that. I must have been making funny faces because he asked me if I was in pain and I again told him it was sensitive. So he then informed me he would need to give me another injection straight into the tooth. I couldn't believe it but I was in no position to argue and in went another injection into the front of that tooth in the gum just below it. Then hang on, what's he doing? Another injection? Oh yes I had yet another injection into the back of that tooth. So that made five injections in total!

Finally it numbed and I couldn't feel a thing which was good because he was drilling again and I can remember some extremely nasty tasting stuff going into my mouth. God it was horrible! The smell was horrendous too. I spent most of my time with my face screwed up as the taste and the smell was awful! The drilling wasn't too bad I got used to the sound of it and I couldn't feel it so it was no big deal. What I did find annoying was not being able to swallow much which is pretty uncomfortable. Then when I did actually get to swallow I had to swallow that horrible stuff which tasted foul!

After the drilling, some files were inserted into my tooth. The files clean out the tooth. The dentist gave me an x-ray to determine how long my root canal was so he knew exactly which size file he should use to clean out my tooth. I had to wait a couple of minutes for the x-ray pictures to come through and then the file was inserted again and twisted around to clean the tooth.

When it came to pulling the file out I actually felt something. It seemed to get stuck halfway coming out and so he pulled it again and that's when I felt a bit of pain. I was a little worried and then I felt pins and needles in my tongue and the left side of my mouth. I was positive the injections were wearing off and my anxiety levels were going up. I didn't say anything though and before I knew it I was having the temporary filling put on, I was asked to rinse my mouth and that was it. I was a little stunned that the appointment was over already. He told me he'd taken the nerve out of the tooth which I was surprised with as I didn't see anything or feel anything. I expected to really notice if the nerve had been taken out but I honestly had no idea. I was expecting to be in that chair for ages but it didn't seem to be more than five minutes to me! I was actually in there for twenty minutes which wasn't too bad and the procedure itself, although uncomfortable in places was actually fairly painless compared to the pain I had felt before hand. It was such a relief to have my mouth numb for a while!

I was informed that I would have to take some painkillers once the numbness wore off which wasn't until another two hours later. I was told I didn't have to go back into work afterwards but I decided to anyway. However I got no recognition that I had gone back in, nobody bothered to ask how I was and when the numbness wore off and I was in agony nobody could care less so I made a vow that on my second appointment I would book the day off!

So all in all the first appointment was fairly mixed. The injections were the worst part for me and then the feeling of the numbness kicking in. However after that the procedure didn't seem to take that long, it wasn't too uncomfortable, the dentist kept asking if I was in any pain which I helped me to relax because I felt like he actually cared and I was in safe hands. The dental nurse was also very good at sucking out all the excess liquid. The taste of the nasty stuff whatever the hell that was, was absolutely disgusting! That for me was probably the worst part. The dentist did apologise for the nasty taste but it really doesn't make it any better I assure you!

I did find that normal painkillers worked to take the pain away after the numbness had worn off but if you are in any doubt and you want really strong ones, I find Paramol work extremely well (but that's a whole new review!). The main worry for me after the first appointment was that I had to wait almost a month for the dentist to finish it off as he was going on holiday. I was also informed that the next appointment would be a lot longer which confused me as I thought all that needed to be done now was the tooth to be filed and a permanent filling to be put on.

2) In-between Appointments

As I mentioned I had to wait almost a month before I could have the treatment finished off. I found that although I coped really well in the actual appointment, a few days afterwards the shock kicked in of what I had been through. The dentist for me is a really traumatic experience and I couldn't get over the fact that I had, had five needles. It didn't take too long to get back to normal though; it was just my body trying to recover from the ordeal.

One thing I noticed afterwards was the fact that my tooth felt like it was higher up than the rest of my other teeth and that meant that every time I closed my mouth, it somehow managed to touch that tooth and it irritated me a little. Even though I couldn't feel any pain because the nerve wasn't there anymore, it still felt a little sensitive and I was worried about the temporary filling.

I was told I had to be very careful on that filling because it could break off if I ate really hard stuff on it. I also researched online and I found out that if the filling came off and anything got into it, including your own saliva, it could get infected again and the whole procedure would have to be done all over again (without the nerve of course!). So when a bit of it broke off one day while I was eating, as you can imagine I was more than a little worried!

I had gotten used to eating on one side of my mouth. I hadn't eaten anything too bad that could damage the filling and I couldn't have been more careful if I tried. Yet somehow a piece of it did break off and my tooth now felt sharp. It also started to become sensitive and I was convinced that I would have to have the whole thing started again which I really didn't want! I still had a couple of weeks to go until my appointment and day by day the filling seemed to get smaller.

When it is first done you can actually see the filling really clearly. It looks like a piece of rubber that has been just stuck onto the tooth. It looks fake and really messy. At first it covered the whole tooth but by the time it came to have my second appointment finally, it seemed to have come off quite a bit and there was almost a little hole there. I was nervous and when I got to the dentist I explained about it and he said it was no problem. If I had have had to wait any longer than those three weeks I would have probably had no filling left and the whole thing would have had to have been done all over again!

All in all I felt a little sensitivity to the tooth and a lot of pain for an hour or so after the numbness had worn off but apart from that nothing went hugely wrong. I would recommend you get yourself some painkillers in and just be careful with what you eat. The filling is fairly strong and can withstand a certain amount of pressure but don't tempt fate with it, look after it and you will be fine! Also try to get a second appointment sooner than three weeks if you can, that way it will cut down the worry that I had of will the filling actually last until my next appointment?

3) My Second Appointment

Finally my second and final appointment came around. I felt really strange on the day and my left cheek where the injections would go was really sensitive and I was shaking and panicking. I can remember wondering why on earth I was getting so wound up over having an injection when I had five the time before then it clicked that I could still feel the injection going into my cheek. I'm really squeamish and it wasn't the pain of the injection (in fact the injection didn't really hurt), it was the feel of it going into my cheek that made me feel like passing out.

So I was sat in the waiting room saying to my partner "God I wish I didn't have to have an injection, I don't think I can handle it today". Anyway I got called in by the dentist and as much as I tried to prep myself up, I still felt like I was going to cry. I was a right mess! Then my prayers were answered. The dental nurse put the blue pinny thing on me and I was lowered down into the chair. It was then that I realised, I wasn't going to be having an injection! I always have to go into the waiting room before I have the pinny on in order to let the injection kick in, so the fact that I already had the pinny on showed to me that I was safe! Then a whole new fear kicked in. I wouldn't be having an injection! Was it going to hurt? What if they started drilling? Still the thought of no injection still managed to keep me calm.

So here I am lying in the dentist chair, mouth open ready to start. The dentist picks up his equipment, the dental nurse comes over with the sucking thing and they are both hovering over me looking into my mouth, the dentist goes to start and then nothing happens. He takes the drill out of my mouth, looks at it and then starts saying things to the dental nurse which I can't understand. She starts looking in a cupboard and he's looking around. Meanwhile I'm just lying there watching wondering what is going on. They are having hurried conversations and he's getting frustrated. He then apologises in a muffled voice, goes out of the room and comes back in with something he'd borrowed from the dentist upstairs. Great, I thought, his equipment wasn't working - what a great start this is!

He finally got started and to my utter horror he started going to my front teeth. Now I had a lot of plaque build up on my teeth. No matter what I'd tried it wouldn't come off, an electric toothbrush didn't work, a needle didn't work! Nothing worked and so when I originally went to see the dentist he told me I would need to have it removed. There was never a mention of when this would be happening but he decided it would be fun to do it now. My god did it hurt! My bottom front teeth were the worst and that drill that they use to get the plaque off really hurt! I was literally squirming away from him because the pain was just too much. Afterwards I had to rinse and spit and the amount of blood that came out of my mouth was disgusting!

Finally the root canal treatment started. He chipped away at the temporary filling. I had to give it some due; the filling was fairly hard to get off. It was uncomfortable with him really trying to pull it off but it came off in about a minute and he was then left to file the tooth again. It wasn't like the one he did originally. I couldn't feel it being done and it was just strange having something shoved into your tooth that you couldn't feel.

I remember a lot of liquid being put into my mouth. Some of it was the same nasty stuff he had used the time before and the other just tasted like plain water. The first ten minutes or so weren't much different to the first appointment really only there was less filing and he was just sticking something into my tooth and spraying the liquid everywhere. Then things started to get stranger.

The main thing I remember in the whole of the appointment was when the dentist asked me to close my eyes. Now I thought this was because he was drilling further near the opening of my mouth and the liquid would go in my face as it had been doing previously. So I fully obliged and closed my eyes. I was right, liquid did go all over my face then a few seconds later after he had stopped I smelt it and tasted it. Bleach! Why on earth was he putting bleach in my mouth? I absolutely hate the smell of bleach and the fact that I had it all on my face and in my mouth was disgusting! I also remember reading online that when the dentist is cleaning out the tooth he puts a rubber thing over it so that the bleach that he uses doesn't get into the rest of the mouth as it could be dangerous. Now I was left wondering if my dentist knew what the hell he was doing because he cleaned my tooth out in the last appointment and this bleach was in the whole of my mouth. My mouth started to go numb. My tongue and the whole of my mouth right back to the back of my throat started going numb. I couldn't believe it and I was silently panicking but decided to just go with it, he had to know what he was doing.

Next the dentist was passing something over to the dental nurse. I couldn't see what it was so I was just there with my mouth open. Then I heard it. Was that the sound of a lighter? The dentist then put this thing into my mouth. I couldn't feel anything so it wasn't uncomfortable or anything in any way. Then he passed it to the dental nurse again and again I heard the distinct able sound of a lighter trying to light something. He then put this thing back in my mouth and I saw a really thin layer of smoke coming off it. I was right this thing, whatever it was, was being heated up and put into my mouth. What it was for I have no idea but I just thank my lucky stars I couldn't feel it! The bleach wore off and yet more drilling was done then he got something else and put it right up to my gum and to my shock it really hurt.

The dentist said that he would now be placing something into my gum and was I alright with that. "Yes" I said knowing I wasn't really in a position to argue as he already had part of it in my gum but then he started really putting it in. Further and further it went and the pain was quite strong. He then started tightening it up and it felt like he was literally screwing it into my gum. It tightened up and my body seemed to get used to it being in there but it really was uncomfortable. I couldn't swallow as I couldn't really move my mouth. The metal thing that was inserted into my gum was around an inch long and it was sticking up onto my lower lip so I had to keep my mouth open as it was quite sharp. I really don't know what the dentist was doing at this point as all my focus was on the thing sticking into my gum.

Finally after what seemed like forever he started taking it out and it was such a relief. Then to my horror he put it into a different position and again proceeded to insert it into my gum, again the pain was quite bad and it was tightened up. This time it was sticking up diagonally out into the middle of my mouth and this seemed even more uncomfortable than the last position it was in. This was the weirdest experience by far. Having something inserted into you without any pain relief (and I mean into the gum there for all you dirty minded people out there!), is not a nice experience!

So after that was over I thought it couldn't get any worse but I was wrong and you may find it hard to believe but the x-ray that I then had to have was actually the most painful part of the whole procedure. The thing that x-rays you has like a rounded bottom and you have to bite onto a ledge sticking out of the middle of it. Now for some unknown reason when I bit down onto the ledge, it pushed the bottom curved bit into my gum and it was slicing it and it hurt like hell! The dentist was getting it into position and telling me to bite harder which was absolutely impossible as the pain was just too much and it ended up popping almost completely out of my mouth when I could take the pain no more and had to release the stupid thing. The dentist was a little annoyed by this and assured me he knew it was uncomfortable but could I please just chew it a bit harder. Uncomfortable? Outright agony is more like it! Anyway I did it, they took the x-ray after what seemed like forever, and I had to wait again. Then the dental nurse came back and said there was a problem, the prints had gotten stuck or something so I had to do the whole thing all over again. I never in my life want to go through that x-ray ever again I can tell you!

Next was a pretty boring part of a stick thing being put against the tooth which had a red light which turned blue when it was against the tooth. This was placed against the tooth for around a minute. Then I had some liquid stuff put into the tooth and again he used the stick thing. I do apologise for my lack of technical knowledge on the equipment used but I'm pretty sure you could find this out on a website whereas the actual experience from a patient's point of view is a lot harder to find! Anyway after this was done he finished off cleaning my teeth and buffing them up which tasted really minty. I then had to rinse and again there was loads of blood. Then it was over with.

The dentist showed me the result which I was really happy with and I was on my way.

Now something I didn't mention was the fact that throughout my appointment the receptionists kept coming in and out talking to them and asking if they wanted a cup of tea or coffee. I mean come on, I'm lying there with my mouth open and all sorts stuck in my mouth and they are asking if anybody wants a cup of coffee? It was so uncomfortable having them coming in and out all the time!

The dentist also seemed a bit preoccupied and he managed to cut my gum below my front teeth with the drill. That's what made it so unbearable while he was cleaning my teeth because he'd actually cut me. Also when he went to pull a long needle type thing out of my mouth he managed to scrape my upper lip which he did apologise for but it still wasn't very comforting!

All in all the appointment took around 45 minutes and this time it felt like I was in there a while. To say I didn't have any pain relief I didn't have much pain throughout the procedure. It was uncomfortable and the x-ray hurt like hell but everything else was bearable, even the things being inserted into my gum didn't hurt after a while. The only complaint I would have is how stressed the dentist seemed to be and the fact that he cut me with his drill. Apart from that everything went smoothly and I'm really happy with the results.

*** Nearly a Month On ***

I have had absolutely no pain whatsoever since the root canal was finished, not even any sensitivity which I am extremely pleased with. The tooth was also smoothed and filed down so that it wasn't any higher than my other teeth and I can close my mouth properly now which is great. I can also eat what I want on it and junk food is definitely in now, (though I really shouldn't I know!), and I haven't looked back.


*** The All Important Price ***

Now obviously things like this don't come for free and I ended up paying £176 for the whole treatment. They did give me a flexible option where I could pay it in parts which really helped. So I paid £100 the first appointment and £76 the next time. You also have to take into account the cost of the prescription. Now I got my painkillers from boots and they cost me £8. I don't know if it is cheaper to go to other chemists. Personally I thought all chemists charged the same price but I don't know.

So although it is fairly expensive it is nothing compared to the £499 it would cost to go private.

*** Would I Recommend It? ***

If you need a root canal I would definitely recommend you have one. There is no alternative really and the pain will only get worse if you leave it. If I had a chance I would have had the root canal done when they originally said I needed one when I wasn't in so much pain. I wouldn't have needed five injections for one thing if I'd have had it done earlier!

Although the thought of the procedure and even though my experience was fairly traumatic, it honestly wasn't as bad as what I thought it would be. I am one of the wimpiest people I know when it comes to things like this and I was surprised at how well I actually handled it all. I found it helped to think "In an hour this will all be over with and I will have no more pain". That really helped and that's all I kept telling myself throughout the whole thing.

Honestly do not put it off. If I can go through it I know anybody can! It's surprising how little pain is involved with the amount of things that go into your mouth; it's more uncomfortable than anything.

I hope this review has helped at least one person and I also hope that now you have some idea of what to expect. If anyone needs to chat about this procedure feel free to leave me a message in my guestbook. Thank you for reading!

Summary: gets rid of pain,better done in 2 appointments in my view!