Root Canal

[Sun Tzu]

About 3 1/2 weeks ago I went into the dentist and found out that I need a root canal. She drilled away at this one back tooth (upper left) that was so bad, that after she was done there was barely two nubs of tooth left. She put on a temporary crown and ordered a porcilain one to be permanent. It hurt like hell for a while, just because of the trauma to the nerve of the tooth. I was taking 2 ibuprofin 3 times a day for a week and a half afterwards, and even now I get headaches and earaches stemming from that side. I've been chewing on only one side of my mouth since then too, which feels like forever.

So today is D-Day. I'm heading to the Dentist in about 45 minutes for the final root canal/crown placement. Everyone I've talked to that has had one says it doesn't hurt in the slightest bit, but that it does take a long time and there are some "uncomfortable" moments. Now I don't know about all of you, but just thinking of the two word combination that is "root canal" makes me uncomfortable. The amount of time it takes doesn't necessarily bother me, since this dentist gives me goggles and headphones that hook up to a DVD player. Last time I watched Forrest Gump while she drilled away. Now I'm not 100% certain, but in the background I thought I could hear her saying something like "this poor sucker, I'm going to rob him blind! hahahahahah!"...anyways...I typically work a tuesday-saturday shift, so I'm normally off today, but I did request tomorrow off just as a precautionary measure.

I really hope it's as painless as everybody says, and I also hope she gives me some killer meds so I can vegetate all day tuesday playing FOF/TCY and Brothers in Arms.

[sabotai]

I had a root canal a few weeks ago. There really isn't any pain afterwards. They take the nerve out of the tooth, so if you feel any real pain after it then something must have gone wrong.

[lighthousekeeper]

I'd call the dentist about the pain your experiencing. Since the nerve's gone there shouldn't be much pain - that could be a sign of an infection. In which case your dentist would not proceed with placing the crown until the infection has subsided and the nerve cavity has been completely cleaned out.

[Sun Tzu]

So it turns out I didn't need a root canal after all. For the past week there has been no pain at all (since about 24 hours after I stopped taking ibuprofen), so she tested the nerve and apparently it's healing perfectly fine. Good news for me. She temporarily seated the crown, and then filled another two cavities in other areas. I'm absolutely exhausted right now...

Lighthouse - Maybe I was unclear before. I had yet to get the root canal. The pain I had was from inflamation of the nerve/gums from when she drilled the tooth down before.

[Raiders Army]

Had my first root canal today. When he put heat on my tooth it was mind-numbingly painful. The drilling was nothing compared to that. Also I wasn't getting the gas right. During a break I shifted the hose on my face and it was pretty sweet then.

Getting a root canal is totally worth it.

[JediKooter]

My dentist used ice on my tooth. Holy crap that is some of the worst pain I've ever felt. I have to go back in about a week and a half for part 3 of my root canal for one tooth. Good thing I like soup...

[RainMaker]

Fuck teeth man. Years ago one of my wisdom teeth got infected and I can't describe how much pain I was in. Felt like someone had beaten that entire side of my face with a baseball bat.

[RendeR]

Root Canal? baby shit.

Get a massive abscess and a month later, once yer done crying, you come talk to me about Pain.