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Original poster

Made a massive mistake and regret it but there's no going back.

114 replies

xmasduo · 26/12/2021 16:22

Just before Christmas I had toothache. Turns out I needed a root canal or extraction of the tooth. I'm at a NHS dentist but he said if I wanted it done before Xmas I should try a private dentist. Cost for root canal was too much and I could barely afford the extraction. With all the talk of lockdowns and being in pain I opted to pay £££ for my tooth to be extracted privately.

Now I'm gutted. I've lost a tooth that should have been saved. I should have waited for my NHS dentist to do treatment but they said it would be months and I was worried about any lockdown.

I can never get that tooth back. I'm so angry with myself.

If lost a tooth and a lot of money!

Just needed to moan to someone really as I am so down.

OP posts:
irishfarmer · 26/12/2021 17:52

I had a root canal done on my front tooth. It lasted a few years and then started to go greyish so I had to get a fake one, which I must say was a very good job but they are v pricey. If it was a back tooth I'm not sure I would have bothered.

Alonelonelylonersbadidea · 26/12/2021 17:52

@KirstenBlest , @EIIa is talking about what a root canal actually is, which is correct.

OP I had 2 in 2015 and in the last year both have started to break. I'm looking at 1000s in repair and crowns. I have constant underlying pain.

Have no regrets!!! You did a very wise thing.

Yummymummy2020 · 26/12/2021 17:52

I got mine out over choosing a root canal as I had heard of too many failing and people being worse off. I have a gap at the back now, if it bothers me in a few years I’ll see about an implant but having a fear of the dentist I was glad to be rid of the tooth😂

Interested in this thread?

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Dental health
sausagepastapot · 26/12/2021 17:57

You are being dramatic. You can get an implant or a bridge. Don't be silly.

ShinyHappyPoster · 26/12/2021 17:59

I had a similar issue a few years ago. My dentist just charged me more for lots and lots of treatments and I still ended up having to get the tooth taken out in a matter of months. I think your decision was probably for the best and not a mistake at all.

Firkinhavinalaugh · 26/12/2021 17:59

OP i get it. i get the feeling of not taking care or people thinking that. i had a root canal started just before lock down one, I was lucky enough that he finished it during lockdown one but i then had several rounds of antibiotics as we attempted to save the tooth followed by being the first patient seen when allowed and an extraction. A year on and i am struggling with the opposite molar and am likely to need another root canal 🙁 but my shame of losing a tooth has gone and I would like not to be in the pain i am!

oftenbaffled · 26/12/2021 17:59

Are you prone to hyperbole OP?

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 26/12/2021 18:01

My root canal failed too. Had an NHS extraction which (after having 4 dentists pulling at it and causing no end of pain and damage), it shattered and I was pulling bits of bone out of my gums and cheeks for weeks. I also ended up with dry socket which the emergency dentist was too squeamish to deal with and made me wait 4 more days for my actual dentist to shove a clove dressing in. Then I got an infection and was allergic to the antibiotics they prescribed.

OP, I'd say you've made a good decision based on the facts you had at the time. It really could have been much worse!

It's been about 3 years since mine was removed and it doesn't bother me much now. I was surprised at the size of the gap, but unless I get something stuck in it, it doesn't really cause me any issues.

thisyearsuckssofar · 26/12/2021 18:05

I had root canal on a tooth that was so weak, it had to be extracted a year later. Total waste of money that was.

KirstenBlest · 26/12/2021 18:06

@Alonelonelylonersbadidea, I've had root canal work. The root was cleaned out, filled and a post inserted and a crown attached. No dead tooth was spiked into my mouth.

IHateDentalPain · 26/12/2021 18:07

NC for this.

You didn’t necessarily make a bad decision. Dental pain can be very severe, and it can get worse when a tooth is compromised? Who wants to be stuck with bad and increasing pain over Christmas?

But, the advice from PPs to look into getting into an implant is good advice. They look and function like a real tooth, and in many patients an implant can last a lifetime. I have two that were put in 20 years ago.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 26/12/2021 18:21

There's no guarantee at present that there won't be further lockdowns, which could have meant you in pain for months waiting for an extraction - and you could have developed an abscess in that period, which could have made you very ill without access to treatment. This way, you will heal and won't have to worry about such things.

DaisyNGO · 26/12/2021 18:26

@xmasduo

I know I need to get over it and move on. What's annoying me is I could have had root canal done with the NHS for less than I paid for extraction. I feel a bit better knowing that root canal might have failed in a few years anyway.
But it would have been months to be seen on the NHS and extraction is the better choice?

I understand being angry at the situation, but you made the right decision.

ViceLikeBlip · 26/12/2021 18:28

I hate it when I'm pressured into making a decision without having all the necessary information (like whether we're going into lockdown or not!) FWIW I think that you probably made the right decision with the information you had at the time. At least this way you know that tooth can't ever cause you any grief again 🤷‍♀️

LetHimHaveIt · 26/12/2021 18:31

Root canal surgery is painful, protracted. and frequently just kicks the metaphorical can down the road. Having the buggers whipped out is much the better option. No fucking around. I've never understood why people cling to teeth that need to be shown the door.

Faretheewellmyfairyfay · 26/12/2021 18:31

Oh dear, how annoying. But the infection could have spread while you waited, the pain might have affected your life in the meantime, the root canal work may not have worked, and at least the problem was dealt with, sorted and move on.

Haveyoubrushedyourteethtoday · 26/12/2021 18:32

I think leaving it for months would have meant months of toothache!

I had the same just before Christmas and had it out. I’ll need an implant. Though the extraction cost 50 euro ( not in uk, obviously). Uk dentistry prices make my eyes water.

Haveyoubrushedyourteethtoday · 26/12/2021 18:34

@NeverDropYourMooncup

There's no guarantee at present that there won't be further lockdowns, which could have meant you in pain for months waiting for an extraction - and you could have developed an abscess in that period, which could have made you very ill without access to treatment. This way, you will heal and won't have to worry about such things.
Absolutely! I developed sudden excruciating pain the evening before a 3 day public holiday. I’d rather have had labour pain!
adoreyou · 26/12/2021 18:35

I had an implant last year and it cost £3k.... was a front tooth.

Dental work is expensive, and NHS dentists are a rare things these days

Kenwouldmixitup · 26/12/2021 18:35

If you’d developed toothache over the four day closure you’d have wished you’d had taken the original advice. You probably made the only sensible decision given time of year and potential circumstances- threat of further lockdown. Toothache is worse than childbirth - from my experience.

Letsallscreamatthesistene · 26/12/2021 18:35

@IHateDentalPain

NC for this.

You didn’t necessarily make a bad decision. Dental pain can be very severe, and it can get worse when a tooth is compromised? Who wants to be stuck with bad and increasing pain over Christmas?

But, the advice from PPs to look into getting into an implant is good advice. They look and function like a real tooth, and in many patients an implant can last a lifetime. I have two that were put in 20 years ago.

Why NC for this?!
ElsieMc · 26/12/2021 18:37

I had a root canal many years ago at a private dentist and tbh it was never right and I went back time and time again. I should have changed dentist then really.

Bits broke off it but I was still convinced it could be saved. A week before my dd's wedding it broke again and I went to our new private dentist as an emergency. He told me it was rotten and decayed inside and pulled it out. Why on earth I put up with it all these years for the same reasons as you op I will never know.

Yes I have a gap further back in my mouth but my teeth are tightly packed anyway so I am not too bothered. He did a good clean job. I honestly think you have made the right decision op. Pain free more cost effective and less time consuming. If I could make the decision again I would have had it taken out years back. I am sixty and this is the first second tooth I have had taken out so not too bad going really.

TheFnozwhowasmirage · 26/12/2021 18:39

I had a root canal via my NHS dentist,Due Ito it being NHS,it couldn't all be done in one session,so it had to be de nerved,then another appointment made to full the tooth,as he said that the NHS won't pay for a long appointment to do both procedures all in one go.Sadly,between the first and second appointments,the tooth broke anyway and had to be extracted. Then I had a false tooth on a bridge made to fit the gap and despite two goes at fitting it,it came out,so I gave up. All that money for no result.
12 months later,I needed another root canal and my dentist referred me to a private dentist who could do it all in one go,as he daren't risk doing it in two procedures again. It cost £££ but I've still got that tooth.
I'm living with a broken molar at the minute, I got toothache during lockdown and I couldn't get an appointment,then it broke and stopped hurting. I've still not been and had it sorted out as I know that they'll want to remove it and I don't want to lose another tooth.
Sometimes, I can see why people had all their teeth removed as a 21st birthday present. Get all the hassle and pain over at once.

Staffy1 · 26/12/2021 18:39

If they said it would be months could you have put up with the wait? Don’t think you had much of a choice really.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 26/12/2021 18:40

Oh, you know, I opened this thread thinking that this was a moral issue, like you'd slept with your sister's boyfriend. Or that you'd moved abroad and now couldn't afford to move back or something. Or that you'd told your mum to fuck off but realised you'd been too hasty or something and now your relationship will never be the same. Or that you'd had an affair, or a regretted abortion etc etc etc.

Honestly, I can really sympathise as someone who tends to go over and over decisions I make, or need to make, and always catastrophise that I made the wrong one. And I over worry about my teeth too. I understand, really, I do. But I do think that in a few years' time you will wonder how come you were filled with such angst.

It will pass, OP, really it will. And be thankful that it WASN'T any of the things that I listed!