Root Canal

I just had root canal done on a tooth today - it was due to trauma inflicted on my tooth from biting into an un-pitted olive.

Regarding the root canal "surgery," I was prepared for the worst from people who said how painful the experience was. I must say I didn't experience much discomfort. The procedure is long and I had to keep my mouth open for awhile, there were a few injections of some kind of novocaine derivative (with the roof of the mouth being a real knee-jerker), and that was about it.

The doctor just gave me a few Advil and sent me on my way. I went back to work and taught the rest of my classes for the day. I couldn't play the flute this afternoon in a rehearsal due to the novocaine, but other than that, nothing. Hardly any pain this evening as the Advil has worn off.

So, the question is, what's the big deal about root canal? Or, is my instance not representative of the normal experience?

In my experience, root canal is tedious and uncomfortable more than painful.

Very tedious, very uncomfortable; my last session was over 1 1/2 hours.

Sometimes there are a few very localized moments of intense pain, but nothing unendurable.

I've had several root canals done.

Each time the level of pain was different, ranging from almost none on one tooth to extreemly painful on another.

I don't know the reason why.. I guess you just take your chances and see what happens.

I have had three during different parts of my life.

The first one was due to an injury and done very quickly after the initial incident. The relief from the pain totally negated any pain that might have come later, and in fact there was no real pain later.

One was done after a year of slowly increasing pain. I had cracked a tooth that had a filling and it had gotten worse over time.
The pain during the next week was pretty significant as the root bed, gum, and bone had all become inflamed over time.

The most recent was due to an impacted wisdom tooth that had fractured under pressure. It was an extraction and canal due to a "split root/nerve". Not so bad but was long in the chair.

I've had one root canal, it wasn't painful at all, what hurt the most later was the joint connecting the jaws from holding my mouth open. This morning I go to get 2 teeth extracted. I'm guessing it's a whole lot worse than root canal. But I'm getting IV sedation so hopefully I miss the worst.

I agree with you completely. My first root canal was initialy totally painless. A few days later I got a small infection in the tooth and that hurt quite a bit. The dentist said they prefer to not give antibiotics so that they know when an infection comes up. Anyway, he told me I should have called right away because when I did go back he cleaned it out in about 15 minutes and all the pain went away. So there's no need to have any pain.

Had another root canal a few years later and it was completely painless. I thought the same thing you did at the time- root canals are generally no big deal. Just don't ask about the pain from tongue surgery if you accidently bite your tongue while sleeping, or the pain from a crown lengthening.

One thing to note:
Root canal surgery is really about destroying the nerve to the tooth in question.
So quite obviously no nerve, no pain. It's really the impact to the surrounding areas that hurts afterwards, and depending on what has happened, how long it has taken to get fixed, how much time in the chair, those are the factors that dictate the pain afterward.

My root canal was totally painless, which was a surprise since I'd talked to several folks who had the opposite experience. First of all, you should see a endodontist who does these all the time. There are two variables that also may cause one person to have problems. First, if you wait to take care of a problem, and get an infection or abscess, then it will hurt before, and likely hurt after (maybe during?). I went in for mine before there was any infection. Second, roots aren't in one clean path but rather have a lot of branches. The dentist has to clean all these out. Some people (like me!) have thin branches which head off in odd directions. If they don't get them all, you are likely to have problems. My guy used a low-dose fluoroscope to image the roots to make sure he got them all.

Hate to admit how many of these I've had but I am definately and experienced patient who can comment on the comfort factors .

Every one of mine was different, from one extreme to the other. Depends on so many things it's near impossible to predict. e.g. where the tooth is (upper/lower), how many roots to the tooth and where they go and how deep into the bone. Infection being present before/during the surgery made a difference.

There are anesthesia variables, how much novacaine, what type, fast or slow acting, how much time allowed for it to act. Some dentists are really good at this... and I've been to at least one who was definately not. Individual patients' variable perception of intense vs. moderate pain enters in... I swear my own moods came into play some days. But in defense of the doctor...anesthesia for root canals is a hit-or-miss thing. The dentist can't directly put the central nerves of the tooth to sleep before starting... he/she goes around the gums and jaw and works a general area of the mouth expecting the drug's effect will spread to those nerves in the root. Generally, it works and you feel nothing at all. But patient nerve physiology can come into play and sometimes the drug doesn't deaden the central nerves. In such a case, novacaine can be placed directly into the tooth during the procedure. That truly smarts for a second or two, but does the job 100%. Post-surgery discomfort hinges on how much surgical trauma there was to the gums/bones and whether or not there is infection present. If the doc misses some of the nerve deep down at the base, it will likely re-infect. Again... a little discomfort, a lot, or none at all.

Rstaff was right... see a specialist. Many of my general dentist jobs needed to be re-done within a few years.

Jim (believe-me-I've-been there ) BAR

For me, the surgery was unfomcortable, very, but not really painful. More "jaw open so long it aches" pain than anything else during.

But about 4 hours later, the novacaine had worn off, I was not in "root canal" pain, but my entire head was miserable for quite awhile.

ON my followup, I asked the nurse and she called it an "impact depression", sounds like something she made up, but it completely describes what I was feeling. Sad and achy all over my head like I had been beat up in a nondescript way.

Next morning I was fine.

funny this thread came up, I have an appointment for a root canal on wed....

by the responses i feel much better about the proceedure..