Root Canal

When I needed my crown replaced I was in quite a bit of discomfort. Turns out the crown was leaking. If yours was over 10 years ago, it probably needs to be replaced. Mine lasted about 15.

What does that mean that your crown was leaking?

When I got my crown last year, the dentist here told me I should expect a tin crown (the £198 one) to last at least 10 years, and that either porcelain or gold are expected to last longer than tin.  Tin is the 'weakest' crown, then porcelain, then gold being the most durable.

What does that mean that your crown was leaking?

Just that it was coming loose, which can allow bacteria to leak in.

Glad to hear they're getting you sorted out, LC, and that a nice crown won't cost you so much!  What a nice dentist!

LuckyCuz you are so lucky (ha!)!  I wish my dentist would give me a white crown for the cost of a silver one! 

Yes he was a nice guy.  The practice is run by a family of brothers and  actually do think they genuinely care about their patients.  Shock horror for a NHS dentist!! I think he said he would do that because he didn't want me to have the tooth extracted aand so made a tempting offer as it were.  I also think my white panick stricken face might have had something to do with it! 

I have started taking the antibiotics, but I am still in pain...and I noticed a ulcer is developing where the root of the tooth ends ( I am guessing ) so I hope this does not blow up into a full blown abscess.  I can cope with dental pain in the day, but at night it seems a 100 times worse..I just end up tossing and turning in bed until I pass out.

Yes he was a nice guy.  The practice is run by a family of brothers and  actually do think they genuinely care about their patients.  Shock horror for a NHS dentist!! I think he said he would do that because he didn't want me to have the tooth extracted aand so made a tempting offer as it were.  I also think my white panick stricken face might have had something to do with it! 

I have started taking the antibiotics, but I am still in pain...and I noticed a ulcer is developing where the root of the tooth ends ( I am guessing ) so I hope this does not blow up into a full blown abscess.  I can cope with dental pain in the day, but at night it seems a 100 times worse..I just end up tossing and turning in bed until I pass out.

Can you call the dentist and ask if there is anything else you can do in the meantime to prevent it getting worse?  Tell them it feels like and ulcer developing.  Maybe you could start rinsing with warm salt water or hydrogen peroxide.  I really feel for you. 

Just that it was coming loose, which can allow bacteria to leak in.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's what was happening.  Athough it doesn't feel loose, my dentist did say that it wasn't fitting as well as it should.

Can you call the dentist and ask if there is anything else you can do in the meantime to prevent it getting worse?  Tell them it feels like and ulcer developing.  Maybe you could start rinsing with warm salt water or hydrogen peroxide.  I really feel for you. 

He told me to continue the way I was....so far this is my daily routine.

I alternate every two hours with 2 Ibruprofen then two hours later 2 paracetamol and so on and so on.  Every 8 hours I take a antibiotic.  Brush my teeth 3 times a day.  Swig Oraldene medicated mouthwash and I also am rubbing clove oil on my gum by my tooth in the morning and again before I go to bed.  I have a hot water bottle attached to my face.  If I wake up in agony..bear in mind I am not a huge drinker and I normally can't stand the stuff..I have been swilling two shots of Whiskey!! which makes me pass out asleep.

I am suprised I wake up in the morning after all that lot..   It is only the second day of antibiotics and I am working on the theory that antibiotics sometimes make things worse before they get better 

Wow.  I remember when I had mine done I was supposed to be on a course of antibiotics for maybe a week.  However, it got so bad and I was swollen like a chipmunk.  Maybe it would have been even worse if it hadn't been for the antibiotics, but I was so uncomfortable, I left work and literally ran to my dentist (I don't know why I didn't take a cab!) and he took one look at me an fit me in immediately as an emergency patient.  Thank goodness.

When are you scheduled to go back for your root canal?

I was told to see how the antibiotics go over the next 5 days and call back then to either request a repeat of the drugs or if it has cleared up, book the root canal.

When I got my crown last year, the dentist here told me I should expect a tin crown (the £198 one) to last at least 10 years, and that either porcelain or gold are expected to last longer than tin.  Tin is the 'weakest' crown, then porcelain, then gold being the most durable.

I've had a tin crown last for 20 years.  I had it replaced with porcelain.

I've had a tin crown last for 20 years.  I had it replaced with porcelain.

Yes, the '10 years' was a minimum expectation.  In terms of the material's hardness/durability, gold is strongest followed by porcelain then tin.  My dentist said also depending on the remaining (underlying) tooth involved & the strength of it - you sometimes want to take that into account in selecting the most appropriate crown material as well.  If the underlying tooth (or tooth fragment) is weak/insubstantial, a person might be better off with the harder porcelain or gold - because that's going to make the reconstruction, structurally, stronger.

I literally JUST had a root canal Monday and it was CAKE compared to the pain I was feeling. I was in EXACTLY the same boat in terms of agony. I even encouraged DH to get out of the house one of the nights to spend time with his mate & sister just to get away from my whimpering...and then I end up ringing him 2 hours later in absolute tears because I was on the verge of cutting the tooth out myself! I had pain all down through my jaw and into my neck and throat...then up into my ear canal (felt like an ear infection)...and even onto the roof of my mouth and behind my right eye. In fact, I suspect it's why my right eye was bloodshot until after I started the antibiotics.

I ended up seeing a dentist on emergency Sunday morning who prescribed Amoxicillin and I also made an appointment Monday for an extraction (I thought then it was my wisdom tooth and it turned out to be the broken molar in front of it). When I went in Monday for the extraction, the dentist referred me to his other office (20 min away) as they had the capacity for NHS and it would cost less. We got there and the dentist there suggested we may be able to save the tooth (80% chance), and he would rather try since it's a functional tooth, rather than chance issues with ruining my bite.

I was terrified when I got back that afternoon and admitted I shyed away from dentists because of that fear. He assured me I wouldn't feel the pain and reminded me that any slight discomfort HAD to be better than what I had been going through the past few days. He told me to just put my hand up at any point if I needed a break (from holding my mouth open).

When he injected the novicane, he did it very slowly and carefully and I BARELY felt a pinch. He says that sometimes the people who feel pain are the ones who have such a bad infection and inflammation that the novicane is ineffective. The thing that helped me was that my husband was allowed into the room with me and I shut my eyes when he numbed me, so I didn't see it coming. I was shaking like a leaf!!

He finally said at one point during the procedure that if I hadn't felt anything up to that point, that I wouldn't feel anything from that point on in terms of any pain -- and he was so right. I think it helped as well that he was very nice and walked me through what he was doing each time, so I relaxed quite a bit. The whole thing took less than 40 minutes.

I go in next Monday for the crown and mine will be gold. (I blogged aboout it here: http://meguk365.blogspot.com See day 139) I was quoted £198 and assured that the gold crown was the strongest and most durable. My brother-in-law had porcelean and his kept breaking on him. My mother-in-law has a gold crown on one of her molars and you can't even see it in the back of her mouth. Typically the porcelean ones are for the front moreso for cosmetic reasons and because you don't use your front teeth for heavy chewing.

So far I'm on day 3 and the worst pain since the root canal has been a tight sensation in my jaw from where I had to hold my mouth open. I use Ibubrofen (400mg) for that. Oh, and before I had the procedure, I was using Paramol 4x a day because it contained codeine, which helped me sleep (since nighttime seemed to be worse). I did like you and alternated with the Ibuprofen AND also had a scalding hot bottle of water...in fact I think I have a bruised eyebrow from sleeping on it, haha.

Good luck with everything and let us know how it goes!! xx

I had a gold crown (posh) from UK that lasted about 25 years.
I had a root canal here in US last November.  Had a lot of pain when biting down or even just tapping that tooth, which had been crowned.  Was v. apprehensive -- and depressed (I get v. depressed about my teeth falling out!) but was assured that it would be no worse than a filling.  People at work who'd had one said similar.  The hygienist said the endodontist was v. good and the worst thing would be the jabs.  And she was right!  Didn't feel a thing after the injection took effect.  He drilled through the crown and then put in a temp. filling.  Several weeks later I saw my reg. dentist and he decided just to take the temp. out and do a proper filling.  So still have the original crown.
I do have to say though that I still get some pain and sort of sinus pain (its an upper tooth)and it seems to me I have more gum inflammation now.  They say it takes awhile to settle down again.
My dentist has started doing CERAC crowns so you only have to make one visit and it is a lot better.  They do the prep digitally with some kind of autocad type thing so you don't have to have a temp. crown and then come back for the real thing.

Well the antibiotics have kicked in now after the last few days which is a relief!! no more scalding hot water bottles on my face, and no more dribbling ( which was far from attractive ) and I said "see ya later" to the liquid diet I have been on    Thank heavens I finally can chew again!! 

The pain has gone but my tooth feels a little stiff.  I can't really describe it..its not in pain anymore but does feel a little weird 

My official dentist is away on holiday and I have to make a appointment for the root canal in a couple of weeks time on his return..so hopefully the pain stays away and I am feeling pretty good and confident about the whole procedure now 

I had awful visions and thoughts about the whole thing, but from what you guys have said..they seem unjustified.

Dentists are my worst fear...I turn into a little girl!

I had the option of getting my 2 front teeth done as a double root canal or separate - I chose double (I was 14 at the time).  I remember the whole front of my face being completely numbed and numb for a while after.  The pain wasn't too bad afterward, but then the painkillers were quite good.     You may notice graying and discolloration in the teeth as the root will be gone and your tooth will essentially be "dead."  But it won't go black or anything that drastic.

Mind you the reason I needed my 2 front teeth done was due to a freak accident (they seem to be attracted to me) where I broke my 2 front teeth 2 days before Christmas & now have acrylic putty fixing them to look whole again (I eventually need to get them capped).     I still have "phantom pains" in my teeth when I come accross something hard, but its not consistent and I've been told by my dentists that its pain from the surrounding teeth that I feel.

Mind you the reason I needed my 2 front teeth done was due to a freak accident

I have had actual nightmares about this  - Cripes! bless you !!!