Waiting 5 weeks for a root canal?

[NearlyAlwaysInsane]

Word of advice from those who are dentally minded?

I've had a throbbing tooth since 2020. Dentist said (just before lockdown) that it should be a root canal, but that he'd try a filling + some sort of antibacterial treatment inside the cavity. It has throbbed since then, on and off. Sometimes quiet for weeks. It has also been super sensitive since.

In lockdown I was also referred for a lump on the gum right under that tooth. Got x-rayed at the hospital where I was told it was something fibrous, maybe related to a past abscess. Dentist says it is unrelated to the pain in the tooth just above it.

Fast forwards to Jan 2023. Sensitivity is now pretty extreme. Tooth started throbbing weeks ago. Went for my check-up last week and the pain had increased, but dentist said it was likely bruxism (no x-rays taken).

A week on, and I've been on painkillers every day for a week, and the pain wakes me up at night, and has spread to my jaw. Went for an emergency appt today, and x-rays taken. Dentist now says a root canal is needed, but that the lump (which is now painful) is not related to the tooth issue. Erm, weird. Antibiotics were prescribed (yay!). But the soonest they could fit me in is in 5 weeks' time.

So......would you wait? I'm on an NHS dentist which is great, but if I went private the prices for root canals seem really steep.

Also, a week of antibiotics.....is that likely to stop the infection for the 5 weeks remaining to my next appt?

And sorry, totally wrong on the number of weeks! It's 9, not 5!!!

Id go private and have the tooth removed!

As i couldn't cope with a root canal.

Explore private options and try to preserve your tooth! It's far far more expensive to replace it.

The issue with private options is the price really. But waiting 9 weeks to deal with something infected does seem like storing up more trouble.

You can call 111 and they will help you find an emergency dentist who will be able to treat you sooner (especially if you are in significant pain and only if there isn't an infection).

My daughter was 6 and in severe pain due to a cavity out dentist f-Ed up. We called 111, got in with an emergency dentist and she was able to relieve the pain and prescribe antibiotics. Once the infection was gone we did end up paying £700 to have it removed under sedation (as the whole experience was as very traumatic for her).

£1k is much cheaper than the £5k implant to replace the missing tooth 🤷🏼‍♀️

OK so apologies but in case it's helpful to anyone, I wanted to update this thread. Basically, I went private. Had an emergency appt with the private dentist, he did an all-round check (suggested multiple other fillings I 'need' to do, but I may wait on those), and booked me in for a root canal a week later.

What he found was that the tooth was not infected, but it was highly inflamed and alive. He suggested the reason the antibiotics removed some but not all of the pain was that maybe there was infection elsewhere, but the antibiotics aren't anti-inflammatory so the sensitive tooth that got the root canal was most likely still the issue. He told me he could see some sort of separation between tooth and gum (or along those lines) which to him suggested the tooth was being raised by swelling/inflammation.

The root canal was booked in for a 70-minute appointment. I was quite frankly quite scared - every single one of the fillings etc. I've had done in the past 4-5 years has hurt within minutes of the drilling starting. However, the private dentist seemed sure this would not be an issue, gave me some injections all round the tooth, and then waited a bit and did the root canal. No pain at all - first time in 4-5 years this has happened. What a relief. When asked about this later, the dentist simply said: 'Compared with the NHS, I can afford to wait. I'm not clock-watching. I can wait until you are properly numb before we get on with it.' Could this be it - pain for years because of rushing NHS dentist?

I was surprised no filing was done btw - some sort of electrical thingimajig was used instead.

And this leaves me with a dilemma. Expensive private with much more frequent appointments (and the receptionists weren't like Terminator, either.....at my NHS dentist's they are so blimming unfriendly), or stay back on the NHS and accept less pain but also way cheaper. Oh dear.

If you can afford it why wouldn't you go private and leave the NHS space for someone who really needs their terrible service?

Hi Op so in 6 weeks 3 teeth god damaged is that what happened and the dentist didn’t pick this up on an X-ray. We’re they top molar or bottom

Message for fearlessloathing

20 years of pain infection it's a total cover up unless root canals are steralised with two 90 minute appointments and a rubber dam they will fail with MRSA leading to necrotizing fasitis a flesh and bone eating worm's lve removed them from nose and jaw myself and it caused me serious health issues as in ME autoimmune disease it's been covered up at least since the 60s why for profit of course as a former microbiologist and health care professional it's global in scale for me it's a holucst of greed more shocking than the opioid crisis

Once you have strap a infection in a tooth it needs to be treated using a rubber dam and two appointments so a dressing to kill of infection is left for two weeks otherwise it will lead to necrotizing fasitis as in flesh and bone eating worm's this no dental care professionals will tell you why as so much profit made from cosmetic dental industry

Having suffered from poor root canals and pain over 20 years and ill health this information is not in the public domain why for profit as a former microbiologist in a different area why is this being covered up

I didn’t know necrotising fasciitis was a flesh eating worm?