Dental help - I can't be number and I need a root canal

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

Please be gentle. I'm in a lot of pain and struggling here.

Since June I have needed root canal on a tooth that had a filling previously. The first attempt I believed I was numb, but once the dentist started the procedure, it became obvious I could feel it, and it was too painful to continue. The dentist said the tooth was inflamed and to wait a few weeks and come back. I should add that I fainted during the numbing process, which the dentist thought was a reaction to the adrenaline used. He said he would use the local with no adrenaline next time.
So a few weeks later, I went back. The local didn't work again, this time the work didn't even start as it wasn't numb in that area at all, after 2 injections and 30 minutes.
So the dentist said come back again, we will use the adrenaline as maybe you just had a panic attack last time. I went back - and again I fainted on the chair. My heart felt like it was bursting though my chest. So again, it did not numb the area, just half my tongue and my cheek. He then tried another dose of the local with no adrenaline. Little more numb, but not in the area of the tooth. It was what I can only describe as patchy numbness.

At that point the dentist said my only option was to go private for sedation or have the tooth removed. Private isn't an option for me at all. I don't have any money. I do not want the tooth removed as I made a terrible decision years ago to have the same tooth on the opposite side removed, and I now can't eat on that side. I asked for a referral to the dental hospital. He very very very reluctantly did it. However, a week later, I am told the referral has been rejected.

So my options are a) tooth removal or b) pay privately (when it may not even work as they can't numb me!).

How can this be? The tooth can be saved! And I want it to be. Why go through unnecessary extraction?

Can anyone offer any advice or help? Has anyone experienced difficulty with local anaesthetic?

Hello .I have the same reaction with adrenaline ,heart thumping out of my chest and dentist recommend to take a valium before the procedure and it work a treat..Maybe that might work for you.?

Can you go to a new dental hospital, where in the country are you. Sorry but I wouldn't risk an adrenaline reaction. I'd rather have the tooth taken out.

The reaction is the least of the problem I think... The lack of local working is the main problem.

I'm in the north west Holey.

I desperately don't want the tooth removed. I won't be able to eat. I'm having a panic attack over the thought of it being removed!

I am usually fine with local, but had a root canal last year where I was squirming in pain once the dentist got in there. The nerves were so angry they were actually bleeding inside the tooth! She syringed more anaesthetic directly into the tooth, and that worked instantly. Might that help if you could bear the opening of the tooth? The bleach they put in also kills off the nerves. I am guessing it’s a back tooth? My NHS dentist told me the dental hospital here will only do root canals on front teeth, so I ended up paying an arm and a leg for a private specialist. The specialist I went to offered 0% finance over 12 months, which I think is common in private surgeries - could that be an option? I was lucky that my mum lent me money, but if she hadn’t I would definitely have taken the finance rather than have the tooth extracted. (Surely if the tooth is to come out you will have the same issues with getting numb?)

I had this problem with anaesthetic not working. It turns out that local doesn't work well on me wherever I have it. I was referred to a dental hospital and I actually had a fourth year student treat me. I didn't need a root canal. I only needed a filling because the dentist had drilled half my tooth out and the temporary filling had failed.y tooth has never been the same since and I had no problems with it previously. The only dentist that wanted to do a root canal on it again was another NHS dentist but I've been private for seven years with two different dentists and it hasn't been mentioned once.

Finance won't be an option either. I can't get it.
The tooth would be removed under GA.

The problem with paying for private is that I will still have the same issue regarding local. It did not numb the lower teeth at all. The best it got to was half my tongue and patches in my cheek.

Hi, can I ask why you won't be able to eat, with the same tooth removed on the opposite side?

I have no bottom teeth on my left side, and only 2 on my bottom right.
I can eat fine.
They can provide you dentures for free or implants if it is causing so much problems. But i can't see why 1 tooth on each side would be such a problem?

Has the dentist also told you that root canals are not 100% guaranteed to work. They may for a few years, or months. Then you'll be back to square 1 again. If it's so bad, I would highly recommend you having it pulled out. It's a lot less easier, not as painful and you're guaranteed to not have any more problems.

www.liverpool.ac.uk/dentistry/freedentaltreatment/
say they don't do sedation, but they may be able to offer an alternative numbing treatment - there are alternatives, some people have allergies to local anaesthetics and they can get alternative types

I’ve not had sedation since I was a student (20 years ago) but I think you are so out of it that you don’t feel much. I had it with an IV thing in my arm but that may have changed now. I had to be driven home and put to bed. Which tooth is it? I am missing a lower molar on either side and am absolutely fine with eating. I do have the wisdom teeth fully erupted on both sides, and upper teeth fully intact though. Could you see a different dentist for a second opinion?

You do not need a root canal filling regardless of how much the dentist emphasises the need.

Both my husband and I (as the Queen says), were told we needed one, we didn't. The teeth were filled as ordinary. Some years later they were extracted - at the back so didn't matter or show.

The pain is the reason I need one. It was a filling. I was eating bloody lettuce when the pain seared through my face. They managed to do emergency treatment on it to clear the old filling and put a temporary dressing on it. But that's where it stopped.... haven't been able to progress further.

I already can't eat on the other side. The gap is very wide, and the gum hurts. I haven't been able to chew that side for 9 years now. I absolutely do not want to take the chance on the other side. I also had various complications from it, dry socket, repeated infections. Not something I wish to repeat.

Surely you can eat something on the other side if you have teeth there. Even with no teeth you would be able to eat at least soft foods.

Has your dentist never mentioned anything like dentures or implants if the gap is so big?

No, soft food presses on the gum. The gum hurts. Its.never been any different since it healed. Everytime I accidenrly push food that side, it's the same feeling. The dentist doesn't feel that the gap is an issue.

Regardless, surely I shouldn't have to lose a part of me because local anaesthetic doesn't work? That can not be ethical surely?

Could you have the root canal done under GA?

I'm guessing this is a bottom molar? There are several things you can do when anaesthetic doesn't work, I can't really say what the dentist has and hasn't tried but like a pp said one technique is to open up the tooth to the nerve and inject the anaesthetic straight into the nerve. It maybe the dentist has tried all the techniques, have you had any antibiotics or anything?

What are you feeling when the tooth isn't numb? Has the dentist been able to get into the nerve yet? Have you ever had any problems going numb before?

Realistically if you really can't get the tooth numb, then you have three options:
Leave it, Have the root canal without proper anaesthetic or Have the tooth out. The least painful option long term is to have the tooth out but no one can force you.

Before having the tooth out you could try going to a different dentist, there maybe things they can do. I don't think many dental hospitals offer sedation for molar root canals, so you would have to go private, which is obviously expensive . You could also look at getting treated by students, as although it seems counter productive there are obviously lots of very experienced staff there and you can get lots of collective wisdom and someone with a lot of time.

I have the same reaction to local anaesthetic containing adrenaline, my heart pounds, I feel shaky & light headed, after about an hour I start feeling extremely cold like when you have a bad dose of flu & I shiver, I end up having to go to bed with my electric blanket on full & a hot water bottle, once this passes I end up crashing & falling asleep for three or four hours, I feel drained for at least a couple of days after.

I have been told that this is because I suffer from Fibromyalgia & CFS/ME, my body is extremely sensitive to adrenaline, if I go to the dentist now I have the local without adrenaline, but I have to have probably twice or three times as many injections to go numb as my nerves are so sensitive. I had a shoulder arthroscopy where they put a nerve block in for pain relief, they used local with adrenaline, I ended up being in hospital much longer than everyone else who had it done as my heart would settle down & when I eventually got home, I ended up in bed for almost a week recovering from the effects of one stupid injection.

I agree it's a pain but if the LA isn't working the only option you have is GA at a private dentist or get it pulled with your NHS dentist.

The problem with RC is you're working deep into the canal, and when there is an infection such as your case, then LA doesn't numb properly.

The infection stops it becoming as numb as it should be, or 'patchy' numbness as you describe, because of it. So RC is often felt when infection is present.

It's also a lengthy process. They usually take two appointments to finish a RC off. So if he/she finishes the first appointment and you get another infection, you risk the patchy numbness again, and waiting even longer being in pain for it finishing off. They're not 100% guaranteed either, So what can become a long, expensive course can turn into something that could of been solved quickly and fairly cheaper.

I'd also speak to your dentist about the sore gum. It really shouldn't be like that and you should be able to eat at least some foods, to me it sounds like there could still be an infection under the gum, Which could be causing pain.
If the tooth removal was recent it's possible there is tooth or bone shards still left in your gum They will work their way out, or be absorbed into the body. But they're sharp, and they pop out of the gum. Could you possible have some making it's way out?

Hope it gets sorted soon OP. Keep us updated!

How are you doing, OP? I agree with PP about your gum needing checked out, I had my lower left molar out last summer - after a failed root canal - and the gum is like bone now. I do have the other teeth round about, but I could crack nuts on that gum if I needed to. The opposite side one was extracted about ten years ago and is the same. (I have all the rest of my teeth, I am aware that makes me sound toothless!)

Oh, and just to echo *sendyouupinflames” I did have wee fragments of boney stuff in the weeks after I had that tooth out. The dentist plucked big bits out with tweezer things, and the others kind of came out by poking with my tongue. My extraction was difficult and the tooth had to be sectioned into bits, so she said that was quite common.