Root canal or extraction?

[FancyARoot]

Posting here for voting rights!

I have a hole in my back tooth. It’s started being really quite painful. Saw the emergency dentist today who said I need a root canal or extraction.
The catch is - I can’t have a root canal until lockdown is over. And who knows when that will be? The extraction I can have tomorrow.
Either way I’m terrified of the dentist.

Any experiences most appreciated!

YABU - wait for a root canal
YANBU - tooth ye be gone tomorrow

[MilkLady02]

“Let’s try this and see if it works” is pretty much the definition of an experiment!
There are certainly failure rates for all treatments, and giving the patient a clear indication beforehand of the likely prognosis helps to make sure the patient has understood and accepted the level of risk they are willing to take. What I am saying is that if you just try something that is not a recognised treatment for that particular condition, you have no leg to stand on legally if the patient ends up in pain and complains about the treatment.
I know there are dentists that will do this, and that’s up to them, but I am not one of them!

[gingerbiscuits]

From personal experience, I'd get it removed. I had exactly the same issue with a tooth 1 from the back & it was AGONY!

Opted for root canal to be followed by a crown. Ended up going through several painful procedures & spending a fortune, only for it to collapse & be too unstable for a crown & unsalvageable. So, more money & weeks down the line & it had to come out anyway.

The extraction was pretty horrid but over & done with quicker & less painfully in the long run. Only I can tell it's missing- not even obvious when I smile widely.

[gingerbiscuits]

Should add - I've just got a gap there now - the gum is really hard & I can chew with complete confidence!

[imoment]

Don't get it removed, try to save it.

If you have a gap the tooth above will eventually fall out and be lost and your teeth could go all wonkey having one removed. Fight tooth and nail to save it.

[Mrsmorton]

@MilkLady02 is perfectly right. This is one of the reasons I no longer practise. Always someone unethical ready to take your cash, us mugs in OOH or NHS practice left to sort out the results.

Quite amazed by how blasé you all are about having so many root canals and extractions. Almost all dental disease is preventable. MN is one of the worst forums for arguing this point, "weak teeth" and "lose a tooth for each pregnancy" usually the top excuses for poor diet and oral hygiene.

[mrpumblechook]

If you have a gap the tooth above will eventually fall out and be lost and your teeth could go all wonkey having one removed. Fight tooth and nail to save it.

I've never heard of that and the dentist certainly didn't mention it. DM had a tooth removed about 60 years ago and one above hasn't fallen out or gone all wonky so it certainly not definite.

[antipodalpizza]

If you have a gap the tooth above will eventually fall out and be lost and your teeth could go all wonkey having one removed. Fight tooth and nail to save it.

What?! I had my lower wisdom teeth out 30 years ago and still have my upper wisdom teeth. First I've heard of it.

[Mrsmorton]

f you have a gap the tooth above will eventually fall out and be lost and your teeth could go all wonkey having one removed. Fight tooth and nail to save it.

Not true although sometimes the tooth upstairs can over erupt and cause problems. There are no definites, each case is its own.

[imoment]

I agree not always true, but it's happened to a couple of people I know. Pefectly stright teeth a year after having one removed they're all wonky and fucked right up. You need to wear a guard everynight to stop this

[Mrsmorton]

@imoment the best people to advise on this are almost certainly individual posters' dentists. The generalisation is simply not accurate.

[callmeadoctor]

Apologies too Milklady (bad day, sorry xx)

[mrpumblechook]

Quite amazed by how blasé you all are about having so many root canals and extractions. Almost all dental disease is preventable. MN is one of the worst forums for arguing this point, "weak teeth" and "lose a tooth for each pregnancy" usually the top excuses for poor diet and oral hygiene.

No one has said that it isn't preventable. My diet and oral hygiene is very good thank you. Some of us are still suffering the consequences of dentists to drilled teeth for profit in the 70s though.

[nitgel]

Yep me my dentist in the 70s butchered my teeth

[OfTheNight]

I am also terrified of the dentist, I even cry when I have to go for a check up. I had a similar situation, my dentist advised extraction so that’s what happened.

I was absolutely scared shitless. I didn’t sleep the night before my appointment, I couldn’t eat, I was in bits!!!

But my dentist is a really nice bloke and so was his assistant and they were so kind to me. I wasn’t too keen on the injection but that was over quickly enough and then he extracted the tooth and it was honestly fine! Obviously not something I enjoyed but I really was like ‘is that it?! Why did I feel so worried?’ Really best of luck

[quarantinevibes]

I recently had a root canal and I wouldn’t recommend it. It was done over the course of around 5 appointments. I’m not sure why it took so long but it did hurt, I could feel them pulling out the nerves and came out in tears. Each appt they spent around 45 mins at least on it. It was so long and horrible. I’ve also recently had a tooth removed and found it much easier and would opt for that if I could go back with the root canald tooth. Also, I had to have a crown put on top of the root canal as it was so weak after the amount of work I only had a tooth shell left the whole inside was drilled out. Since having it I’ve read a whole lot about them not being good for your health either, leaving a dead tooth in the body to harvest bacteria in the blood stream, weakening your immune system, some people don’t agree with this but feel free to do your own research before opting for one, as I wish someone had told me prior. I hope you get it sorted op

[MilkLady02]

No worries @callmeadoctor, hope your day gets better!

[QuestionableMouse]

@Mrsmorton I've had one tooth out and it broke after an accident. I'm not blasé about it at all.

[Unforgettablefire]

Just to add a couple of experiences in here if it helps.
I’m terrified of the dentist. But it’s mainly the drill and I detest the hooks and other ungodly things that are used to pick at teeth. To me they’re instruments of torture.
Anyway...I had a root canal under sedation I have no idea how long it took as I was completely out. Had awful pain and headaches on that side for about a week.
I had no problems until a couple of years later one night out of the blue I was suddenly in agony. Dentist removed the root canal, again under sedation and drilled the tooth to a little peg to fit a crown.
Had to go back for the crown to be fitted and was physically ill at how much drilling he did when the thing was put in place.
It was far too big I couldn’t even shut my mouth properly. He kept drilling away and asking me if I could shut my mouth yet, I eventually said yes just to get it to stop, it went on for about 25 mins and I honestly couldn’t cope any longer. I couldn’t shut my mouth properly and he had drilled down to the metal in the crown so I feel that metal grinding against the tooth underneath it.
I was horrified when he showed me it in the mirror, it’s a completely different shade to the rest of my teeth which are off coloured, this thing is a horrible cream colour, so bulky it just looks and feels horrible and is easily seen so I rarely smile properly.
My bite has changed, my jaw sits further back now and I can feel it jutting out past my other teeth above my lip.
Five years later I still detest it but I can’t go through that again.
My second experience was toothache in the very back molar, and bits broke off when I was eating. The dentist I saw said there’s nothing wrong with it and if I try taking it out it will damage the one next to it. His exact words.
My tooth continued to give me pain and I couldn’t eat on that side and was still getting bits breaking off so I changed dentist.
He took one look at it and said I can’t do anything with that it’s too badly decayed it’s going to have to come out. I was so pleased, they don’t do sedation now on the NHS so I was a complete mess thinking of the drill.
He took it out there and then. Took about a minute or less of pressure and slight tugging but no pain, the relief was instant with no after effects.
I never want a root canal again it’s caused nothing but problems.

[Piglet89]

To the previous poster saying we are all blasé about root canals and extractions...how I ended up needing RCT and then extraction is a complicated chain of causation.

I was eating highland toffee as a kid and a bit of my tooth enamel broke off. Childhood dentist filled it, no bother. Small filling really. It stayed in place for almost 30 years. Then fell out because I grind my teeth (and because I had a 2 year hiatus from visiting dentist because I am scared of them from quite drill-happy childhood dentist so that filling probably needed to be replaced but I didn’t realise it).

Didn’t see dentist quickly enough to get it refilled as my NHS dentist had no appointments that week. Went on holiday to Ireland. It started hurting the moment the ferry docked in Dublin. Got it filled by emergency dentist who said the cavity was “nowhere near the canal chamber”. However, cue agony the next night as the nerve died.

Eventually ended up with an abscess which was also agony and just was trying to backtrack from there really. It was 3 expensive months of hell and many different dentists until I eventually just got it out.

The reasons people end up needing restorative dental treatment are many and varied so please don’t judge.

[Mrsmorton]

@piglet89 thanks for that. I've got a bachelors in dental surgery and I work in NHS commissioning. Highland toffee... why did your tooth break? Highly unusual for an unrestored and healthy tooth to break
Even whilst eating toffee.

I will judge as my experience tells me thank you. After 10 years of providing OOH care to people who value holidays over dental care.

Like I said, another reason I don't practise anymore, British public entirely incapable of taking responsibility for their own health.

[Piglet89]

Yes, I don’t know why it broke is the truth. A combination of weakening of the enamel caused by too many fizzy drinks and sweets in the 80s perhaps, combined with genetics. But my husband had just as many sweeties as a child as I did, by all accounts, and his teeth remain unaffected compared to mine!

I do think there’s a balance to be struck; many people don’t attend dentists partly because of fear of the drill and partly because their dentists are too “preachy” about the state of their teeth, rather than compassionate.

I say this as someone now who obsessively looks after her teeth!

[Rubyupbeat]

I've had 4 root canals, all easy peasy, no pain at all.
But if I were in your situation of having to wait and be in pain, I would have it out.
You can always get an implant at a later date, if you decide you dont like the gap?

[Piglet89]

Rubyupbeat I don’t even know where to start in describing the many reasons your post is a massive over-simplification of the possible outcomes here.

[Ilovesausages]

Tough decision OP so sorry.

I had a root canal last year and it was long but pain free and I still have my tooth. It has a crown now. Oh just realised also second from the back at the top.

I’ve also had an extraction many years ago. I was very scared but it was also pain free.

I would probably choose root canal over extraction personally.

Good luck with your decision and hope it is pain free soon.

[FancyARoot]

Thank you very much for the replies and experiences, I’ve read every one and they’ve all helped!

Thank you to the dentists who’ve replied too...mrsmorton I’d hoped you’d pop up!

Quite amazed by how blasé you all are about having so many root canals and extractions. Almost all dental disease is preventable.

I was appalled at being told I needed a root canal. The dentist said he could tell I looked after my teeth, but the decay is where the wisdom tooth meets the molar at a right angle, creating a small pocket underneath which has led to food particles being stuck there :(
I’m going to look into one of those water flossers - are they any good? Mouthwash hurts my mouth but is it worth persevering with?

Pain is down to 1-2/10 today. V strange!