How long does a root canal filling take?

[BikeRunSki]

I have an appointment for a root canal filing in 10 days time.

How long will it take? It is at 3pm, and I am concerned that I may need to find a babysitter for DD (4 months). Mother/PIL several hundred miles away, and my local friends all work on that day of the week, or are entrenched in school pick up/after school activities at this time.

45mins to be on the safe side I would say.

try and get someone for at least four hours afterwards

OMG!!! 4 hours afterwards- what's the dentist going to do to me????????? I have an abscess in my tooth and an infected gum at the moment (on antibotics) and feel like I have been kicked in the face by a horse. A couple of nights ago even Nurofen Plus didn't touch the pain - it can't be worse than that can it ? Also have a High Octane Looney Tunes 3 yo (but he can be at nursery til 6).

first or second appointment?

depends on how difficult the root work is tbh. one of mine I had funny root canals and it took a long time to clean them all out. was in there for around an hour, plus travel to and from the dentist.

i didn't need anyone around afterwards though

it'll be nice when it's done. the relief will be immense!

I had one done in Siberia. It took 3 days

I had to have it redone when I came back to the UK. That took just over an hour.

Well, first appt last week lasted about 2 mins an I was sent away with a prescription for antibiotics. So, I guess it'll be like my first proper appt.

yeah it'll be the first proper appointment where they clean out the root canals. then you have to go abck for another appointment where they do the filling.

i was really worried about my first one, but it was honestly fine. took a while. but as dental treatment goes it really isn't that bad.

didn't feel any worse afterwards than after having a regular filling or whatever done

Last one I had, I needed 13, yes 13, treatments before he'd got all the crap out. Each time he dressed it, it started hurting again.

It's genuinely a how long is a piece of string question. Some teeth have one canal, some have two, three, four or more. Sometimes they are easy to find, sometimes they are difficult. Sometimes when you open the tooth pus & blood will pour out for ages which makes it take a lot longer. I book hour long appointments because any longer than that hurts my back and hands too much so usually for a back tooth it's two 60min visits. For a front tooth that all goes to plan, one 60min visit is fine.